A three-year-old American orphan is among the hostages being held by the Palestinian Hamas terrorist group after their barbaric October 7 raid on Israel.
The toddler’s parents were slaughtered by the terror group during the massacre last month that saw 1,200 civilians killed and around 200 people taken hostage including at least nine U.S. nationals.
The child’s presence in Gaza amongst the hostages was revealed Sunday in a readout of a call between President Joe Biden and Amir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani of Qatar released by the White House.
In the exchange the president “condemned unequivocally the holding of hostages by Hamas, including many young children, one of whom is a three-year old American citizen toddler.”
Both leaders said “all hostages must be released without further delay.”
Mother and daughter Judith and Natalie Raanan, of Chicago, were released in late October, two of four hostages who have been freed, as Breitbart News reported.
A fifth was rescued by Israeli forces.
Israel Defense Forces have previously said the hostages include 20 children and between 10 and 20 people over the age of 60.
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U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Sunday told CBS politics programme Face the Nation that active negotiations to release hostages were “under way between Israel and Qatar, who is communicating with Hamas, and the United States is involved in those discussions, very much involved in those discussions”.
“We are actively working to ensure the safe return of every American being held hostage and every other person being held hostage by Hamas,” he said.