Photos of the hostages
Photos of the hostagesMiriam Alster/Flash90

The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) on Sunday urged Germany and Austria to take a leadership role and grant joint citizenship to Israelis that are currently held captive by Hamas.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action at the SWC, said, "Every effort must be made to release innocent Israelis taken captive by Hamas."

"While the European Union meets to discuss so called humanitarian pause, Germany and Austria should work to strengthen their show of support for Israel and grant dual citizenship as soon as possible."

Last week, the New York Times reported that an Israeli official said that Hamas will probably release 50 prisoners with dual citizenship.

"A senior Israeli military official said that based on conversations between the United States and Qatar, Hamas could possibly release about 50 dual nationals separate from any broader deal," the report stated.