Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz met on Thursday with the families of Americans held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, a Harris-Walz campaign official told Axios.
The meeting was the first one between Walz and the families, and came as negotiations are deadlocked for a deal to release the hostages and establish a ceasefire in Gaza.
"Governor Walz will hear their stories and perspectives and share Vice President Harris' commitment to doing everything possible to secure the release of their family members and all the hostages," the campaign official told Axios before the meeting.
The campaign official added that Walz was expected to tell the families that while in his current role he is not involved in negotiations, "he will do whatever he can to shine a light on their cause."
The families of the seven American hostages still being held in Gaza met with top administration officials on Wednesday at the White House and were briefed on the status of the negotiations, two sources with knowledge of the meeting told Axios.
Vice President Harris met with the families of the American hostages several times over the last year and called publicly for their release as part of a Gaza ceasefire deal.
The United States has been pushing an outline for a ceasefire and hostage release deal that President Joe Biden first laid out in May, but Hamas has continuously rejected every proposal that has been presented to it.
Last week, Hamas once again said that its negotiators reiterated the group’s readiness to implement an "immediate" ceasefire with Israel in Gaza based on a previous US proposal without new conditions from any party.
Despite Hamas’ rejection of all previous proposals, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken downplayed pessimism over the prospects of a hostage release deal, saying that the US will present a new proposal for a deal “very soon”.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday that the US continues to collaborate with mediators from Egypt and Qatar to draft a revised ceasefire proposal.