The Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said he’ll press Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the urgency to secure a cease-fire deal with Hamas to allow for the release of approximately 120 hostages, including eight Americans held for nearly 300 days.
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) made the remarks during a roundtable with the American families of hostages held by Hamas after one participant said Netanyahu was not showing urgency on the issue.
“I’ll be meeting with the prime minister and I’ll certainly bring up this issue,” McCaul said in response to the comments from Daniel Neutra, whose brother Omer Neutra was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7 from the Nova music festival in southern Israel.
Families of the hostages are in Washington pushing for Netanyahu to announce a cease-fire deal, which could result in the hostages’ release, during his address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday.
They are calling for lawmakers and President Biden to pressure Netanyahu on the issue.
Netanyahu’s office said that he is dispatching his negotiators on Thursday, although a location for talks is not yet public.
Neutra criticized the prime minister for sending negotiators after his speech to Congress.
Netanyahu “did not answer when we asked him why he’s only sending his negotiators to keep the process going Thursday, instead of days ago. We must continue to put the pressure on all parties involved including Hamas to accept this deal now before more people die in captivity,” Neutra said.
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said that he is not yet scheduled to meet with Netanyahu.
Responding to a question from The Hill on what more pressure can be put on Netanyahu to accept a cease-fire deal, Meeks said he would emphasize the close U.S. and Israel security partnership.
“We just need to make sure the prime minister understands that we will never turn our back on [Israel], but also understand at this particular moment … that we’ve gotta get these hostages home and then, and we’ll stand together, as we did when Iran sent the drones and the rockets over to make sure that Israel is safe.”
U.S. forces helped defend Israel against an unprecedented missile attack launched by Iran on April 13.
Biden laid out in late May a three-phase cease-fire deal that would halt the fighting between Israel and Hamas for a period of six weeks. Under the deal, Hamas would release hostages in phases while Israel commits to releasing Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza is also expected to be scaled up under a cease-fire deal.
The six-week truce is supposed to allow for negotiations to end the war and pave the way for a new governing structure in the Gaza Strip, reconstruction and a pathway to a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu has rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state.