To mark the lighting of the sixth Hanukkah candle Tuesday night, New York City Mayor Eric Adams hosted the families of Israeli hostages who are being held by Hamas at his home in New York.
The delegation was joined by the families of the hostages, including the families of Omer Shemtov, Tamir Nimrodi, Itay Chen, Shlomi Ziv, Hanan Yablonka, Alex Lobanov, Ron Binyamin, the families of the released hostages Dafna and Ela Elyakim, and the father of the late Roni Eshel, Eyal Eshel. They lit the Hanukkah menorah together with the mayor.
Adams, who visited Israel following the events of October 7, continued his uncompromising stance against the Hamas organization.
The families of the hostages thanked the Mayor of New York for the support of President Biden and the United States of Israel and asked him to continue acting to increase American pressure on Qatar and Egypt to release the hostages from Gaza.
Mayor Adams said: "We are at a defining moment, a moment when we understand the importance of light and what it symbolizes, especially after the terrible events of October 7. We want to be clear in our call: Hamas must be destroyed. I stand with the families of the hostages who came to New York to express the demand to bring their loved ones home now. It is a failure that those responsible for these heinous crimes are not brought to justice when there are hostages in Gaza while the networks are filled with hate."