An American father's plea: President Trump, please bring my son and the other hostages home from Gaza

It has been 100 days since the caller U.S. medication took bureau amid a wide argumentation of "America First." 

But for American families similar mine, families whose loved ones are inactive held hostage by Hamas for implicit 560 days, we should have already seen results from this policy. My son, Itay Chen, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, remains successful captivity. So bash 4 different Americans: Edan Alexander, Omer Neutra, Judy and Gadi Weinstein. Every time that passes without their instrumentality is different time of anguish, uncertainty, and pain.

As a father, I aftermath up each greeting hoping this volition beryllium the time I get the telephone from the White House telling maine my lad is coming home. When President Donald Trump won the election, I felt a renewed consciousness of hope. I believed that his leadership, strength, and idiosyncratic interest for American hostages would pb to existent movement. And I profoundly convey President Trump for demanding the merchandise of all hostages adjacent earlier his inauguration that led to the merchandise of 33 hostages successful Gaza, including 2 U.S. citizens. 

FATHER OF HAMAS HOSTAGE: LET TRUMP CLOSE DEAL OF THE CENTURY

President Donald Trump met with 7 hostages freed from Hamas captivity. (Photo provided by Hostages Families Forum)

I judge helium cares profoundly, but the information is, the archetypal 100 days of this medication person not delivered what the president himself demanded - releasing each of the U.S. hostages successful Gaza and sending a wide connection that holding U.S. hostages anyplace is simply a liability, not an asset. 

This is not a critique made successful anger. It is simply a plea made successful desperation. I recognize that diplomacy is complex. I cognize that the negotiations astir hostages—especially successful a warfare portion and involving aggregate planetary actors— necessitate discretion, patience, and nuance. But I besides cognize that clip is not connected our side. As the weeks pass, the fearfulness grows that the model to bring our loved ones backmost is narrowing and they volition vanish forever.

We person seen this medication enactment boldly successful different arenas to instrumentality the America First policy, peculiarly erstwhile it comes to economical policy. Tariffs and fiscal unit person already been deployed arsenic tools of American strength. 

From near to right, Edan Alexander, Itay Chen, Judy and Gadi Weinstein, and Omer Neutra. (Fox News)

Why not use akin unit present to merchandise the U.S. hostages? Instead of the medication being proactive, U.S. families similar mine, retired of despair, are taking matters into our ain hands. We’ve been lobbying Congress to enforce nonstop fiscal sanctions against Hamas, pressuring banks and fiscal institutions to frost assets and urging stricter enforcement of existing measures. Just this month, U.S. families filed a suit against Bashar Masri, an American businessman charging that helium provided assistance successful constructing infrastructure that allowed Hamas militants to transportation retired their cross-border rampage, including sidesplitting 45 U.S. citizens. We’ve urged the Administration, the Department of Justice and the Treasury to grow these efforts. 

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The medication can, and must, bash more. Americans – children, fathers, sisters – are each inactive being held successful underground tunnels by a violent organization, successful conditions we tin hardly imagine. The erstwhile medication told the American families the mode to merchandise our household members would beryllium via Israel arsenic a proxy. Though the plan did not work, the Biden medication kept doubling down connected the aforesaid program contempt not getting the expected results. 

The Trump medication inherited this argumentation and should re-evaluate the game plan. President Trump is an highly talented negotiator. His squad successfully released respective U.S. citizens from warfare zones with nonstop negotiations. As such, wherefore is President Trump not straight negotiating for the merchandise of U.S. citizens successful Gaza, but alternatively utilizing 3rd parties specified arsenic Qatar to negotiate for the merchandise of U.S. citizens? In January, we saw what the president’s nonstop engagement tin bash to merchandise hostages. The U.S. has a ineligible work to get its citizens retired of harm’s mode and if the proxy is not susceptible of releasing them, past the U.S. indispensable find a antithetic way to merchandise its citizens.  

American-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen was released arsenic portion of the Trump administration's hostage woody successful February 2025. (Jonathan Dekel-Chen)

Trump medication officials person sent a clear message to the satellite that American lives are not bargaining chips. This medication has the accidental to reenforce that principle—to pb with spot and amusement that "America First" means ne'er leaving Americans behind.

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I volition not suffer hope. My religion in America’s powerfulness and committedness is unbroken. But that anticipation needs to beryllium matched with action. For Itay. For the different hostages. For the credibility – and the soul - of a federation that is seeking to reset the array with the satellite based on a true "America First" policy. What a triumph it would beryllium if President Trump, successful his upcoming sojourn to the Middle East, volition bring connected his level backmost location the 5 U.S. hostages from Gaza.