President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are set to meet with the U.S. hostage negotiation team in the White House Situation Room on Monday following the murder of six hostages, including American citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin, by Palestinian terrorists.
The meeting, which will be closed to the media, aims to discuss potential deals for the release of remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, according to Fox News.
Biden and Harris have faced criticism after the discovery of the bodies of six hostages in a tunnel under the Gazan city of Rafah on Saturday. Both had previously expressed opposition to an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) incursion into Rafah, the last major Hamas stronghold in Gaza.
Biden had suggested he might consider imposing conditions on future military aid to Israel if it moved ahead with a Rafah offensive, describing such an operation as a “red line.” Harris echoed these sentiments in an interview with ABC, warning of potential consequences for Israel if the IDF entered Rafah.
The hostages were found in a tunnel complex approximately 20 meters underground, just one kilometer from where another hostage, 52-year-old Kaid Farhan al-Alkadi, was rescued last week.
Autopsy reports indicated that the six were shot multiple times at close range 48 to 72 hours before their bodies were discovered by the IDF. It is believed that Palestinian terrorists executed the hostages to prevent them from being rescued and revealing information about the locations of other captives.
The six murdered hostages were identified as Eden Yerushalmi (24), Carmel Gat (39), Almog Sarusi (26), Alex Lubnov (32), Ori Danino (25), and American Hersh Goldberg-Polin (23). Goldberg-Polin’s parents had previously spoken at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
According to the IDF, 101 of the 251 hostages abducted by Palestinian terrorists on October 7 remain captive in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 33 hostages confirmed dead. So far, Hamas has rejected every ceasefire proposal since the release of 105 civilians during a weeklong ceasefire in November, in exchange for hundreds of detained militants. Despite these refusals, Biden has pursued aid efforts, including spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a pier in Gaza intended for aid delivery, much of which reportedly ended up in the hands of Hamas.
So far, four hostages have been released, eight have been rescued alive, and the bodies of 37 hostages have been recovered by the IDF. Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered Gaza in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers killed in 2014.