The waiting and worrying continues for families of American hostages

Families of Americans held hostage by Hamas will have to wait longer to find out if their relatives are among those freed.

President Biden said earlier this week that he expected the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel to result in American hostages returning home, but they were not among the 24 people Hamas released in the first round on Friday. The ceasefire agreement calls for Hamas to return 50 women and children in phases over four days, while Israel would release 150 imprisoned or detained Palestinian women and teenagers.

On Friday, President Biden said at a news conference that he did not know when American hostages would be released, but that officials “expect that this will happen.” He added that he was not aware of the circumstances of the 10 Americans who are missing, and he did not say how many he expected to be released over the next three scheduled release days.

President Biden called the Friday publications “the beginning of a process.”

The hostages initially released by Hamas included 13 Israelis, all women and children, 10 Thai citizens and one Filipino, according to government officials.

In addition to killing about 1,200 people in a surprise attack on October 7, the militants took about 240 hostages back to Gaza. Hamas had previously released four of the hostages on October 20, including a mother and daughter with dual US citizenship.

On Friday, President Biden referred to two American women and mentioned one American hostage by name: Avigail Idan, whose family said she turned four on Friday. Avigail’s parents were killed in the Hamas attack and her family had hoped she would be free on her birthday.

Avigail, whose name is also spelled ‘Abigail’ in the American media, has dual Israeli and American nationality.

“I notice that I have hardly breathed in the last 24 hours,” her aunt, Tal Idan, said after the agreement was announced. “Every hour that passes feels like an eternity.”