Israeli Hostage Crisis

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. TRONE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call for the release of Abraham Munder, who was taken hostage by Hamas during their brutal attack on October 7.

Mr. Munder is a 78-year-old father and grandfather. Who does that? He has been in captivity for 54 days and counting.

Abraham and his wife, Ruti, lived and raised their family in Kibbutz Nir Oz for nearly 60 years. They built a home. They built a life. It is all gone. Nir Oz was one of the hardest hit by Hamas on October 7, almost a quarter of their population was murdered or kidnapped.

The Munder family has endured unspeakable hardship and tragedy in these weeks. That day, Abraham and Ruti's daughter, Keren, was visiting her parents with her son, Ohad. They were all taken hostage by Hamas. Ohad spent his ninth birthday as a hostage in Gaza.

A few weeks ago, I had the solemn honor of meeting with the hostages' family members in my Capitol office, including Keren's cousin Meirav and her son, Itay.

All they wanted was for the hostages to be brought home, for the world to not forget about their loved ones. Many of us here in Congress took these meetings, and we all pledged we would do all we could to bring them home.

For the last 54 days, Abraham has been held separately and was feared dead by his family. For the last 54 days, he hasn't known that his son was murdered in the attacks. For the last 54 days, he hasn't known that his wife and his daughter and grandson survived and were taken hostage.

As a grandfather and a parent myself, I can't begin to imagine the nightmare. By the grace of God, Ruti, Keren, and Ohad were returned to Israel on November 24 as part of the negotiated cease-fire and hostage exchange.

Today, we call for Abraham to be brought home. Let him grieve and heal with his family. We continue to call for Hamas to release all the hostages. We must bring them all home.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his participation.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source