President Joe Biden met Wednesday with Abigail Edan, an American toddler abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and released in the first round of hostage exchanges between Israel and the terrorist group last year.
Both of Edan’s parents were killed in the Oct. 7 attacks, and she was the youngest American citizen held hostage by Hamas. She turned 4 just days before being released in late November.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan announced the previously unscheduled meeting at the top of Wednesday’s White House press briefing. The Biden administration has continued to take part in negotiations to procure the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas, yet plans for an extended ceasefire broke down earlier this spring.
Sullivan claimed the meeting was a reminder of the work left to do to free the remaining hostages.
Earlier in the day, Hamas released footage of 23-year-old Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli American among the American citizens still held in Hamas captivity, marking the first proof of life provided by Hamas of any of the remaining American hostages. The video shows that Goldberg-Polin’s left arm had been amputated.
White House officials said they had seen the video, and Sullivan told reporters Wednesday that he does not know why Hamas has now produced the video.
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“This is an innocent, young man being held hostage by a terrorist organization, and he should be released immediately, without conditioning, without delay,” Sullivan said. “I don’t want to speak further on this, because of the sensitivity of the issue, other than to say I was just sitting with the President of the United States, going through all of the Americans being held hostage and what we can do about them, what their status is. It’s something he’s personally very focused on, even as he celebrates Abigail’s release.”
Wednesday’s briefing can be seen in full below.
