U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is asking the presidents and ambassadors of Colombia and Argentina to help the U.S. in securing the release of three hostages held for more than two months by Hamas militants in Gaza.
The three hostages — Elkana Bohbot, Yair Horn, and Eitan Horn — hold dual citizenship with their respective countries and Israel. Bohbot, 34, is Colombian-Israeli. Yair is 45 years old; Eitan is 37 years old. Both are Argentine-Israeli.
Wasserman Schultz, who is co-chair of the Latino-Jewish Caucus joined with her co-chair U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y, to pen the letters to both countries.
The three hostages are among the more than 240 people abducted during the violent raid by Hamas into Israel on Oct. 7, in which around 1,200 people were killed, mostly civilians. The attack sparked the war between Israel and Hamas.
Bohbot met and married his Colombian wife, Geraldyn Gonzlez Gomez Bohbot, in Israel and have a three-year-old son. He was taken hostage at the Supernova music festival in Re’im, where more than 300 people were killed and dozens kidnapped. He owned an ice cream store in Tel Aviv.
Eitan, who had traveled from his home in Kfar Saba, to visit his older brother, Yair, at his home in Kibbutz Nir Ozrom, where Hamas militants killed and kidnapped local residents.
READ MORE: Israel's military says hostages waved a white flag before being killed by a soldier
“It's unconscionable that innocent civilians from dozens of countries are still being held by Hamas after two months," said Wasserman Schultz in a statement. "It's incumbent on all of us to step up our efforts to free all hostages, and despite our disagreements with President [Gustavo] Petro and President [Javier] Milei, we need all the help we can get to reunite these families."
Petro has likened Israel’s military response to Hamas to “Nazism” and “Nazis” to his more than 7 million followers on X, formerly Twitter. Milei, a self-declared “anarcho-capitalist” who took office as president last Sunday, supports Israel’s military actions in Gaza.
“In light of the ongoing situation in Gaza and Hamas’s well-documented brutality, there is a critical need for the United States, Colombia, and Argentina to mobilize all available diplomatic resources to bring them home to their families as soon as possible,” said the lawmakers in releasing the letters publicly on Friday.
Wasserman and Schult said they met with family members and friends of the hostages earlier this month. They said they met with Dalia Paulina, sister-in-law to Yair and Eitan Horn, and with Jacob Bohbot, Elkana’s brother.
“These hostages’ chances of survival in Hamas custody continue to hang by a thread with every passing day, necessitating immediate action from all corners of the world,” said Espaillat in a statement. “We need action now.”
Other members of Congress to sign the letters include South Florida U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat from Parkland.
Read the letter to Colombia’s Petro here and to Argentina’s Milei here.
The situation grew more tense on Saturday when Israeli officials reported that three Israeli hostages mistakenly shot by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip had been waving a white flag and were shirtless when they were killed. It was Israel's first such acknowledgement of harming any hostages in its war against Hamas.
Anger over the mistaken killings is likely to increase pressure on the Israeli government to renew Qatar-mediated negotiations with Hamas over swapping more of the remaining captives, believed to number more than 130, for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. Hamas has conditioned further releases on Israel halting its punishing air and ground campaign in Gaza, while Israeli leaders have said the hostages' release can only be achieved through military pressure.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
