The families of Israeli hostages Carmel Gat and Shlomi Ziv, who have been held captive by Hamas since October 7, met on Sunday with Foreign Minister Israel Katz and U.S. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik as part of her visit to Israel and shared their struggles after more than seven months of waiting for their loved ones' return.
Shai Dikman, cousin of hostage Carmel Gat, recounted the unimaginable scenes Carmel witnessed before her abduction, bringing Stefanik to tears. "We know about the rape, the sexual crimes and the horrors of captivity. This week we marked Carmel's 40th birthday, and we have only one wish - for her to be free again," Dikman said.
"The last thing Carmel saw before being taken away was her mother Kineret shot in the head and lying on the floor. I hope she knows that her father and family are alive; I'm afraid she doesn't," Dikman added. "She’s a free soul, and I don't know how they took it away from her. She always helped others, and now she’s in distress and deserves our help."
Rosita, mother of hostage Shlomi Ziv, said, "Shlomi is my eldest son. Every grandchild who passes by asks, 'When is Shlomi coming back? Has he returned?' We need to bring them back, give our people hope.
"I see their pictures and ask - don't we have the right to self-defense? We don't want anything, we want peace, and living in peace is only a matter of will."
Before meeting the families, Katz and Stefanik discussed U.S. support for Israel during the war and the issue of Palestinian statehood. "We need bipartisan support against the establishment of a Palestinian state - which would be a reward for Hamas and Iran who would control it and work toward Israel's destruction," Katz told the congresswoman.
The top Israeli diplomat thanked Stefanik "for the support of Israel and the aid you approved in Congress with bipartisan support, despite challenges." He added, "Thank you personally for being the first to remove the masks and expose the true faces of university presidents who didn’t condemn antisemitic incitement and calls for the murder of Jews. The world must fight against antisemitism and incitement against Israel.
"We are now in the midst of a war to return the hostages and eliminate Hamas, and we need the full and unconditional support of the U.S. Our war is also your war against the axis of evil led by Iran and radical Islam."
"The U.S. must lead, together with Europe this time, severe sanctions against Iran to stop it now before it’s too late. Iran must not have nuclear weapons - it is unacceptable that European countries support stricter measures against Iran's nuclear program more than the U.S.,” he added.
Stefanik herself concluded her meetings on her website, saying, “Today I met with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz to discuss efforts to safely return the American and Israeli hostages Hamas is holding in captivity. I met with families of the hostages who shared horrific and tragic stories stemming from the brutal October 7th terror attacks. Let me be very clear: We will not rest until the hostages are back home.”