Father of hostage held in Gaza speaks out
(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Nancy Cordes spoke with Jonathan Dekel-Chen, the father of an Israeli hostage being held in Gaza, on Face the Nation Sunday about who he feels is responsible for the fact that there is no ceasefire in the region.
"The situation exists because Hamas, on October 7, invaded Israel, killed nearly 1400 people, committed mass rape, mass looting, destroyed homes and property, and has refused since October 7 to return all of the hostages. Now, that being said, you know, given that we're dealing with Satan, I mean, that's sort of the launching point for any discussion. Israelis at large, and myself included, have been extremely critical of the Israeli government for not negotiating in good faith now, for many, many months. There is no explanation, a reasonable explanation why our government is refusing to deeply engage in these negotiations and complete them, when our entire senior military establishment and intelligence community has been saying publicly and openly for weeks and months that the time has come to end the fighting in Gaza get our hostages home, as many alive as possible. We know that many dozens of the 101 remaining hostages have already been murdered, and to end the madness in Gaza. Simply the government that is preventing it."
Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of hostage held in Gaza
During the interview, Cordes and Dekel-Chen talked about where his son, Sagui, who is 36-years-old and a father of three girls, is being held and what condition he is in, Dekel-Chen says:
"The only thing that we know for sure about Sagui is that, as of late November, early December, we know that he was alive, wounded, but alive. And we know that because in the first hostage exchange, 40 of the 100 women and children who were released by Hamas in that first negotiation were from kibbutz, and a handful of them had seen Sagui and other men, mostly in the tunnels, and could tell us that he was still alive."
When asked if he believes the United States has done everything in their power to bring the hostages home, Dekel-Chen says:
"I think the US government itself would say that they would have done enough when all the hostages are home, all of the 101. They say that in our meetings. I can absolutely state that since a couple of days after October 7, the US administration, from top to bottom, has been extraordinarily supportive of the hostage families: inclusive, sensitive, empathetic. I believe that they have done everything in their power up to now, but at the end of the day, two men have to say yes. One is Yahya Sinwar in a tunnel under Gaza somewhere, with the blood of 1000s on his hands, Israelis and Palestinians. And Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. President Biden, I believe, has done everything that he can. We need we need some more. But time, time is certainly against us. There's no question of that."
To watch more of Cordes' interview with Dekel-Chen, click here.
