Two former sr. US officials from Biden, Trump admins call for return of hostages in joint op-ed

Two former senior American officials from both the Trump and Biden administrations wrote a joint op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on Monday that called for the return of the hostages held by Hamas, specifically the seven American citizens held hostage.

Robert C. O'Brien served as national security advisor under President-elect Donald Trump's first administration, and Tom Nides is the former US ambassador to Israel, who served in President Joe Biden's administration. 

O'Brien and Nides wrote in the Wall Street Journal, "Excluding 9/11, this [October 7] was the largest single-day attack on American citizens by a foreign terror organization since the 1980s."

They condemned Hamas's use of hostages as bargaining chips and human shields and condemned the murder of Hersh Goldberg-Polin at the hands of Hamas terrorists before the IDF could reach him. 

The two officials wrote in the op-ed, "We, like the presidents we served, don't always agree on how to serve them. But we are united in our belief that the seven US hostages still in Gaza, along with the other 93 hostages, must come home now."

They spoke of both Biden and his team's work to make a deal happen and Trump's statements that say there will be "hell to pay" if they are not returned before he returns to office. 

Senior officials urge hostage deal 

Nides and O'Brien also wrote of the timing of a deal in The Wall Street Journal after several of Iran's proxies, including Hezbollah and Hamas, had been weakened, and Assad's regime topped in Syria.

"All parties to these negotiations must know that any agreement must include the immediate release of the American Seven. They aren’t a bargaining chip. They are our fellow citizens with names and family members who await them with unbearable pain. This Hanukkah and Christmas, these families will be forced again to sit at their holiday dinner with an empty chair at the table."

"Hamas and their backers must hear the message loud and clear: Release the Americans in the first phase of the deal. All of them. Release the American Seven and remember their names at your holiday celebrations this week: Edan Alexander, Itay Chen, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Gadi Haggai, Judi Weinstein Haggai, Omer Neutra, and Keith Siegel."