Itay Raviv, an Israeli who at one point had four relatives being held hostage by Hamas captors in Gaza, told Newsmax on Wednesday that as three of them have been released, he does feel there is still hope for other captives seized in the Oct. 7 attacks on his nation.
"There's almost not one Israeli who doesn't know anyone whose life was lost during this war," Raviv said on "National Report," while discussing his uncle, who turned 79 years old last weekend while still in captivity.
"Three of [my relatives] were released already over two weeks ago, and I know this was a lot thanks to the support of the United States and President [Joe] Biden," said Raviv. "I hope that he will be able to assist with the release of the over 130 more hostages there are still in Gaza, including my uncle … he needs to be at home and I hope President Biden and the American administration will be able to assist and release all of them."
Raviv also commented on the crowds that turned out for the funeral services this week for an Israeli Defense Forces soldier who was killed and said he was not surprised by the response.
"For Israelis, every life that is lost is an entire world and we're sad to hear about every name, a fallen solder or a fallen citizen that dies during the war," he said. "This morning, we woke up to the message of 10 fallen soldiers. [They're not] just soldiers. They have names, and families and friends."
"There are still Israeli women, civilians who are in the hands of Hamas, and according to testimony they were raped numerous times," he added. "This is the number one issue at the moment. We need to bring all of them back home right now … it's almost 10 weeks now. This is crazy. It's just horrible to think about what these hostages could be going through at this point."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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