WASHINGTON, DC – Family members of several hostages of Hamas are hopeful that President-elect Donald Trump’s reemergence on the world stage can help secure a deal to release their loved ones.
Breitbart News on Wednesday caught up with the loved ones of several hostages who have been held in captivity by Hamas since its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
“We really are trying to get our hopes, you know, through this period of time,” Sasha Ariev, whose 20-year-old sister Karina Ariev remains in Hamas captivity, told Breitbart News.
Karina was serving in a security unit on the morning of October 7 in Nahal Oz, a Kibbutz just east of Gaza, when the attack unfolded and she was abducted. A video from October 7 published on Telegram showed Karina, her face bloodied, lying on her stomach in a jeep with two other women, surrounded by terrorists. In January, Karina was featured in a Hamas hostage video titled, “Time is Running Out.”
When asked by Breitbart News about the efforts that have already taken place to reach a deal and the prospect of a potential resolution under the incoming Trump administration, Sasha expressed hope, emphasizing that Wednesday marked day 432 since her sister was kidnapped.
“And actually, as you mentioned now, with President Trump being elected, and you know, the Lebanese ceasefire of Hezbollah in Israel, and what happened in Syria and everything, so we really have our hopes now that the deal can be sealed. And our sisters, you know, they’re women in captivity. It’s unimaginable.”
Trump this month demanded the release of the hostages before he enters office in January, declaring there will be “ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East” if it does not happen by then.
“I’m really glad President Trump did this announcement. It is a very important announcement. It frightened Hamas,” Sasha said of Trump’s Truth Social post. “It showed that now there is, you know, a new chief in town, and we are going to get things done and over with.”
And while Trump projects strength, Sasha stressed that both Democrats and Republicans are coming together on the issue of securing the hostages’ release.
“I am going for the hostages issue to be a bipartisan issue,” she said. “You know, the two sides of the aisle need to come together, and they are coming together about this huge hostage subject because everyone knows it is inhumane, the situation, and it doesn’t matter what our political thoughts are, the hostages must come home.”
She added that President Joe Biden has the opportunity to enhance his legacy if he can secure a hostage deal in his final days in office.
“And I really think that now, either the Biden administration, they can leave a legacy of getting the hostages out and working with the Trump elected administration that is coming in, you know, to be his great intro to the office and to his leadership currently. So again, I keep saying that this is crucial times, so everyone: work together,” she said.
When asked what she would like to see from the Trump administration, Sasha emphasized that she wants American political leaders to support Israel vocally.
“From the political side, I really want announcements, you know, clear announcements that America is backing up Israel and standing with Israel because that’s the right thing to do and that, just like Trump says, ‘If this won’t happen, it is going to be bad,’” she said.
“Of course, I’m also afraid that bad could be bad for our hostages there because I don’t know what bad means, but they should be released until he comes to the office. They really need to understand the power, and the game is over. No one can keep going like maybe, and that roller coaster of ‘Maybe an agreement or maybe not.’”
Amit Levy is the 22-year-old brother of 20-year-old Naama Levy, who was abducted by Hamas from Nahal Oz, along with Karina, on the morning of October 7. The terror group released footage of Naama, hands bound behind her back, being dragged at gunpoint from the back of a jeep to the passenger seat.
During his interview with Breitbart on Wednesday, Amit wore a t-shirt bearing his sister’s face. He and the other family members, wearing similar shirts with their loved ones on Capitol Hill this week, fantasize about burning the shirts once their family members return home.
“That’s the dream,” he said.
Amit, who detailed a 14-month-long wave of hopes and despair his family and others have endured, detailed a cautious optimism when asked about the Biden administration’s efforts and the Trump administration’s prospects of striking a deal to secure the release of the hostages.
“I’m very hopeful. Us as families, we’ve been through a roller coaster these 14 months, so we need to, on one hand, keep being hopeful, on the other hand, stay with our feet on the ground because the times we crashed, the crashes are hard, because we get our hopes high. Yeah, but I’m hopeful, and especially at this moment; it’s the most hopeful I’ve been, honestly.”
Between the fall of Assad in Syria, the Hezbollah ceasefire, and Trump pressuring Hamas, Amit said things are tending in a positive direction.
“I think many things that happened the past few weeks, including the ceasefire with Lebanon, and even, I don’t exactly know how it affects what’s going on in Syria, but it feels like and after, of course, after eliminating [Yahya Al-] Sinwar, and with Trump coming in office, and we know that he already, even when he’s not yet in charge, he’s put a lot of pressure on Hamas, I feel that things are going the right way.”
Amit emphasized that the Biden administration is also working in its final days to secure a hostage resolution. It is critical to have both the incoming and current administrations focused on this vital goal, he stressed.
“Hamas are in the worst place they’ve been, and finally, maybe in a place to stop refusing for a deal, and we know that they’re already sitting at a table negotiating, and I’m very hopeful that now it’s the right time, with the Biden administration really doing their best to end it well, and with the Trump administration also wanting this to go the right way, and I think this is also one of the things that both presidents agree on, and believe it’s a very important mission to do. So, I hope it will happen.
Like Sasha, Amit spoke positively of Trump’s threat to Hamas to release the hostages before he takes office.
Amit Levy and Sasha Ariev display posters of their sisters on Capitol Hill. (Courtesy of Bring Them Home Now and THE HOSTAGES AND MISSING FAMILIES FORUM)
“I think it’s super important,” he said of Trump’s demand, noting it came on a very tough day after learning that Hamas had killed American citizen and Israeli Defense Forces tank commander Omer Neutra, 21, on October 7. His fate had been unknown since his disappearance until December 2.
“It was the day that it was announced — that it was announced that Omer Neutra is not alive since October 7. And it gave us, it gave me at least some air to breathe in that difficult day because we understand that Trump is going to act and he’s going to act the way we need him to and be very direct, and hopefully, I hope, that he threatens Hamas to do things even before he comes into office. So that’s my expectation, and that made me very hopeful, that statement.”
Asked what he would like to see from the Trump administration, Amit said he is hopeful a deal could be struck before Trump even gets sworn in.
“So from the upcoming administration, first of all, I’m really hopeful that a deal will be sealed before even Trump gets in office,” he said. “What I expect is before that, to put all the pressure and even to combine, get together the Biden administration and the upcoming Trump administration, work together and show unity for this humanitarian issue.”
“And when Trump takes office, of course, also make sure that Israel keeps its values and America as well, of course, and other countries. I mean, there were kidnapped people from over 40 countries, so many civilians, so to make sure we keep their values and bring our people back,” he added. “And after that, hopefully, find a resolution and make the Middle East a better place, a safer place for Israelis, hopefully for everyone around as well. I think it’s possible.”
Breibart News also caught up with Ilan Siegel, whose 62-year-old mother, Aviva, and 64-year-old father, Keith, were kidnapped from their Kibbutz of 42 years, Kfar Aza, on October 7. Aviva was released in January after 51 days. She lost 22 pounds in captivity, but Keith, an American citizen who has lived in Israel for decades, remains Hamas’s prisoner. Ilan said the efforts by countries in the region and America to bring the remaining hostages home have not been enough.
“I will say that none of the efforts has been enough because my dad is still there. So the Israeli government, the American government, the Qataris, the Egyptians, all the free world leaders are not doing enough because there are still 100 innocent people being held right now,” she said.
“But I do want to say a huge thank you to the Biden administration for having us connected, for hearing us, for meeting with us during this whole time and trying to do what they can to advocate and to support and to negotiate for the release of them,” she said.
And with Trump coming into office next month, Ilan told Breitbart News there is a “shift,” adding she appreciated his advocacy for the hostages’ release.
“We do feel a kind of a shift since Trump has been elected because we can hear different statements from him and from, you know, leaders around the world that say that this is the time and that it could happen. And I am so thankful for Trump for making those statements out loud and saying out loud that the hostages have to come home,” she said.
At the same time, his threats if the hostages are not released, which seem to be geared at Iran and all of its proxies rather than strictly Hamas, do cause worry for Ilan since her father is being held captive by the terrorist organization.
“It’s hard because my dad is inside a war zone. When Israeli politicians talk about that ‘We have to eliminate all Hamas people,’ I just want to say and scream that like, ‘My dad is held by Hamas people!’ So if you kill them, you kill him as well. So we need the Hamas people that has been left right now that are with the hostages to remain alive so we could get our people home.”
“It’s simple logic. My dad is in the tunnels with Hamas terrorists. He needs to come out by them. We won’t be able to go into those tunnels and take them out, unfortunately,” she added. “We know it because we know that military pressure has killed almost 30 hostages. We know it by fact from the Israeli intelligence.”
Ilan also shared with Breitbart News her mother’s account of her and Keith’s abduction and captivity, detailing that they were taken in their pajamas by 15 terrorists.
“My dad was shot in his hand on that day, and they pushed him, and he fell, and he broke all his ribs. So that was a situation that they arrived to Gaza in,” Ilan said.
“They were taken down a tunnel the minute they got into Gaza, and they met there another several hostages from Kfar Aza that were really injured, like with bullets in their body,” she detailed. “Little kids that were full with blood from their dad that was shot in front of them and their sister that was shot in front of them. So people got into Gaza in a really, really bad shape to begin with.”
Ilan told Breitbart News that Aviva and Keith were held with female hostages, and young girls in captivity were sexually abused and raped.
“[Aviva] is telling us many, many horrific stories about the sexual abuse of the girls that got like really tight clothes and that can show their bodies, and that they were told to do to the terrorists all kinds of sexual things. Some of them were raped during that time,” Ilan detailed. “So we are really worried about the girls maybe getting pregnant or maybe even having kids in captivity. They are young girls, 19, 20.”
According to Ilan, Aviva also shared accounts of “the emotional abuse and physical abuse.”
“Most of the time, they were supposed to be quiet, not talk at all, in a complete silence, and if someone talked, they would have some kind of physical abuse,” she said. “If it’s with a gun pointed to their head, if it’s getting beaten in front of everyone.”
She pointed to Hamas’s barbaric treatment of her father as one example.
“My dad, when he just said, like, one word, like that he’s thirsty or hungry, they would threaten him that they — that he will be handcuffed if he will say one more word,” she recounted. “And my dad is 65. He’s an innocent person. He’s a grandpa of five kids.”
She emphasized that her children “have been waiting for him for so long.”
When asked if she thinks Hamas could carry out a horrific event like October 7 again, Ilan, who resides with her family in Israel, said, “I think that as long as we have hostages being held, we could never feel safe.”
“I could never feel safe if I know that my dad is being held for so long and that if something like that will happen to a friend of mine, to a family member, they will stay there for so long and maybe lose their life because it happened for so many hostages,” she said. “So I feel like the first thing that we need to rebuild ourselves and to reassure our confidence in the government, in the army, is to bring them home immediately. That’s the most urgent thing because tomorrow, my dad could be dead.”
“And then after they’re all home, we have many many things to do to feel secure in Israel,” she added. “We won’t feel secure even when they come home, but that needs to be the first thing, and then we can work about all the other things. And that’s not me saying that. That’s, like I said, the officers, the high-ranked people in the army saying [it].”