SARASOTA, Fla. — Exactly five months after the terror attacks on a concert in Israel, families of American hostages held in Gaza will be attending President Biden's State Of The Union address.
Many of the relatives are guests of lawmakers, including a Sarasota woman whose stepson is still being held by the Hamas terrorist group.
Gillian Kaye of Sarasota will be attending with Rep. Greg Stuebe (R-FL) in honor of her stepson, Sagui Dekel-Chen. Sagui's father, Jonathan Dekel-Chen of Bloomfield, Connecticut, will also be in attendance as a guest of Rep. Josh Gottheimer of (D-NJ).
They are among about 17 family members of American hostages, some of them also dual Israeli citizens, who will be inside Congress chambers at the Capitol on Wednesday night.
They're hoping their presence helps put more pressure on the U.S. government to help bring their loved ones home.
"I still can't wrap my head around it every day. I have felt that way since Oct. 7. It's horrific," Kaye said.
According to U.S. officials, at least six American citizens who are presumed to be alive are among the 40 hostages still held in Gaza.
They were taken when Hamas terrorists besieged several Israeli settlements near the border, killing around 1,200 and kidnapping nearly 250 people.
"Who would have imagined that many people would be dead, that the destruction would be catastrophic and overwhelming, and that our loved ones, innocent people who were just waking up on Saturday morning would be dead? Dying and captive and tortured and starving in tunnels. Who would have imagined something like this? It's beyond imagining," Kaye said.
Sagui, who lived in Kibbutz Nir Oz, was last seen defending his pregnant wife Avital, and their two young daughters. He also wasn't among the 100 hostages released in November 2023.
Since the time of his kidnapping, he has become a new dad with the arrival of his third daughter, Shachar.
"He's never seen her and held her and that is our greatest, of course, wish and hope that when he's released, he will be able to put his arms around her and never let her go," Kaye said.
She said her newest granddaughter was named after one of their Kibbutz Nir Oz neighbor's daughter. That entire family was killed and their bodies burned by the terrorists, according to Kaye.
"I've called on the Biden Administration to send in our operational forces or special operational forces strategically to get our citizens back. Maybe the attention in a bipartisan manner with these family members will spur our administration to act. We shouldn't be relying upon the Israelis to get our people out," Congressman Steube said.
Kaye remains hopeful that the presence of the families and their ongoing appeals along with the efforts of elected lawmakers and administration officials will make a difference and bring about a favorable outcome soon.
"Not just the American hostages, but all of the hostages who are still there. To keep the issue alive, and in front of people and raised up, so it doesn't get buried in the horror of what's been going on in Israel," she said.
According to United Nations officials, there's "clear and convincing information" that the hostages are facing sexual violence.
Meanwhile, talks for the release of the hostages and securing a ceasefire before Ramadan begins in a few days have stalled.
Since the retaliatory war began, which the Israeli government has insisted is only targeting Hamas terrorists, more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed.