Ambassadors from US, UK, and Germany Make a Unified Call for Israeli Hostages Release

The Ambassadors of Germany, the United States, and Great Britain held a joint press conference yestereday at the Hostages and Missing Families Forum headquarters in Tel Aviv. They issued a unified call for the immediate release of the hostages, emphasizing that no issue is more important or urgent.

This diplomatic initiative comes ahead of today’s scheduled crucial summit in Doha, the capital of Qatar.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, stated: “The suffering of the families is enough of a reason for us to be here, just in the name of humanity, but it’s an enormous urgency, because it’s also part of the question of maintaining some stability in this region.” Lew added that reaching a deal would open “a pathway for conversations to have a diplomatic solution in the north, and other critical strategic objectives, which would leave Israel the region and our countries safer.”

German Ambassador to Israel Steffen Seibert said: “I’m here out of hope and out of a very strong sense of extreme urgency. This is a special and potentially decisive week.
All eyes and the hopes of millions in Israel and millions in Gaza are pinned on this Thursday, on the possible talks about the deal, and we hope, on steps towards the finalization of the deal. That’s been a long time coming: a deal to get the hostages out, to get a ceasefire in place, and to get the necessary aid in; the deal to start changing the reality of war into a reality of peace, of new beginnings.”

British Ambassador to Israel Simon Walters concluded: “Like Jack and Steffen, I come here with thoughts of the hostages and their families uppermost in my mind. Today marks 313 days since Hamas’s brutal attack on October 7th, and I think even in our worst nightmares, we couldn’t have imagined that we would still be here 10 months later.
We have stood with the families throughout this ordeal, and we will continue to do so until their loved ones are home. Their suffering has gone on for far too long.
There can be no further delay. Now is the time for a deal that sees the immediate return of the hostages.”