{"id":21962,"date":"2024-02-14T13:05:49","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T18:05:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/?post_type=press-releases&p=21962"},"modified":"2024-02-14T13:05:50","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T18:05:50","slug":"sens-ossoff-rev-warnock-lead-25-senators-in-support-of-ongoing-u-s-diplomacy-to-free-hostages-restore-mutual-ceasefire-agreement-in-gaza","status":"publish","type":"press-releases","link":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/press-releases\/sens-ossoff-rev-warnock-lead-25-senators-in-support-of-ongoing-u-s-diplomacy-to-free-hostages-restore-mutual-ceasefire-agreement-in-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"Sens. Ossoff, Rev. Warnock Lead 25 Senators in Support of Ongoing U.S. Diplomacy\u00a0to Free Hostages, Restore Mutual Ceasefire Agreement in Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

Washington, D.C.<\/strong> \u2014 Today U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff, a member of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, and U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock led 25 U.S. Senators in a letter to President Biden<\/a> supporting ongoing U.S. diplomatic efforts<\/a> to secure the release of Israeli hostages in tandem with the restoration of a mutual ceasefire agreement in Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sens. Ossoff and Rev. Warnock are joined by Senators Mark Warner (D-VA), Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence; Jack Reed (D-RI), Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee; Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee; Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee; Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH); Jeff Merkley (D-OR); Michael Bennet (D-CO); Tammy Baldwin (D-WI); Chris Murphy (D-CT); Mazie Hirono (D-HI); Martin Heinrich (D-NM); Angus King (I-ME); Tim Kaine (D-VA); Elizabeth Warren (D-MA); Ed Markey (D-MA); Cory Booker (D-NJ); Chris Van Hollen (D-MD); Tammy Duckworth (D-IL); Tina Smith (D-MN); Mark Kelly (D-AZ); Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM); John Hickenlooper (D-CO); and Peter Welch (D-VT).

\u201cSince the October 7th Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, in which Hamas abducted more than 200 civilians \u2014 including babies, young children, and the elderly \u2014 the United States has played a vital leading role in efforts to secure the release of Americans and Israelis held in Gaza,\u201d the Senators wrote to President Biden.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn November 24th, an agreement brokered with your leadership by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt secured the release of 105 hostages \u2014 all women and children \u2014 in tandem with a seven-day ceasefire. \u2026 Now 130 days since the October 7th massacre, two million Gazan civilians remain displaced in extreme danger and deprivation while hostages held by Hamas remain in life-threatening captivity,\u201d the Senators continued. <\/strong>\u201cWe therefore write to express our urgent support for your Administration\u2019s ongoing diplomatic efforts to secure the release of hostages in tandem with a restored mutual ceasefire in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe recognize that it is in Israel\u2019s vital national interest that Hamas \u2014 a brutal terrorist organization \u2014 be removed from power in Gaza. We continue to support Israel\u2019s pursuit of that objective,\u201d the Senators affirmed. <\/strong>\u201cWe also recognize that without a break in the fighting, humanitarian conditions for civilians in Gaza will become even more catastrophic and thousands more innocents \u2014 including many children \u2014 will die.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal<\/em> reported<\/a>, \u201cCentral Intelligence Agency Director William Burns met with top officials from the Middle East in Cairo on Tuesday in an effort to push negotiations between Israel and Hamas toward a deal that would free hostages and pause fighting in the Gaza Strip. \u2026 The talks in the Egyptian capital are part of an intensifying effort by the Biden administration to achieve a cease-fire in Gaza and bring to a halt a conflict that has reduced much of the coastal enclave to ruins and pushed the Middle East to the brink of an all-consuming regional war.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Senators acknowledged<\/strong> that \u201csuch a diplomatic achievement will require the agreement of the warring parties, and that its terms remain under negotiation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Senators added,<\/strong> \u201cIn our judgment, it is in our urgent national interest \u2013 and the urgent humanitarian interest of millions of innocent civilians \u2014 that these negotiations succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here to read the Senators\u2019 letter<\/a>.<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please find the text of the letter below:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Mr. President,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the October 7th Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, in which Hamas abducted more than 200 civilians \u2014 including babies, young children, and the elderly \u2014 the United States has played a vital leading role in efforts to secure the release of Americans and Israelis held in Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. diplomacy has also been essential to efforts to facilitate the provision of humanitarian aid and to reaching a pause in hostilities in November of last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On November 24th, an agreement brokered with your leadership by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt secured the release of 105 hostages \u2014 all women and children \u2014 in tandem with a seven-day ceasefire. The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas provided a vital window for humanitarian aid to reach nearly two million Gazan civilians displaced by the war, while the return to safety of those hostages \u2014 including a four-year-old American girl, Abigail Idan \u2014 gave hope to the families of others abducted by Hamas that strong U.S.-led diplomacy could secure their freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now 130 days since the October 7th massacre, two million Gazan civilians remain displaced in extreme danger and deprivation while hostages held by Hamas remain in life-threatening captivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We therefore write to express our urgent support for your Administration\u2019s ongoing diplomatic efforts to secure the release of hostages in tandem with a restored mutual ceasefire in Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We recognize that such a diplomatic achievement will require the agreement of the warring parties, and that its terms remain under negotiation. In our judgment, it is in our urgent national interest \u2013 and the urgent humanitarian interest of millions of innocent civilians \u2014 that these negotiations succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We recognize that it is in Israel\u2019s vital national interest that Hamas \u2014 a brutal terrorist organization \u2014 be removed from power in Gaza. We continue to support Israel\u2019s pursuit of that objective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also recognize that without a break in the fighting, humanitarian conditions for civilians in Gaza will become even more catastrophic and thousands more innocents \u2014 including many children \u2014 will die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without an agreement that secures their release, the prospects are dim for the survival of hostages who remain alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without the space created for regional diplomacy by a restored ceasefire, the political conditions for durable peace and security will remain unreachable, and escalating regional conflict will continue to threaten U.S. national security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sincerely,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

# # #<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Washington, D.C. \u2014 Today U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff, a member of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, and U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock led 25 U.S. Senators in a letter to President Biden supporting ongoing U.S. diplomatic efforts to secure the release of Israeli hostages in tandem with the restoration of a mutual ceasefire agreement in Gaza. Sens. Ossoff and Rev. Warnock […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21962","press-releases","type-press-releases","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/21962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-releases"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/70"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/21962\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21964,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/21962\/revisions\/21964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}