Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) praised President Donald Trump and his administration for helping to make happen the release and safe return of 20 living Israeli hostages.
In a statement shared by Mychael Schnell, a congressional reporter with MSNBC, Schumer expressed that it was a “wonderful day,” highlighting how “the last living hostages brutally held by Hamas are home.” Schumer added that while today people would “celebrate the return of the hostages,” he was reaffirming his “commitment to bringing home all the deceased hostages.”
“I commend the enormous advocacy of the tireless hostage families, President Trump, his administration, and all who helped make this moment happen,” Schumer said in his statement.
Schumer continued: “Today, we celebrate the return of the hostages — the joyous images of their reuniting with their families — and we solemnly reaffirm our commitment to bringing home all the deceased hostages, including my constituents Omer Neutra and Itay Chen.”
Breitbart News Senior Editor-at-Large Joel Pollak reported that as the news got out that the remaining living hostages held by Hamas had been released “to the Red Cross,” Israelis celebrated:
“Trump arrives as a victor, and righteously so,” observed an analyst on Israel’s Army Radio.
In keeping with the agreement Trump announced in the White House exactly two weeks before, Israel released 250 Palestinian terror convicts and loaded them onto buses, awaiting the Israeli hostages’ return.
In Gaza, the 20 hostages were freed in three separate groups and handed over to the Red Cross, then to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The first seven arrived in Israel; several were able to call ahead to their families.
When asked by Townhall reporter Katie Pavlich what the “next steps are” now that the last living hostages held by Hamas had been returned, Trump explained that the bodies of the dead hostages would be sought out “in conjunction with Israel.”
“They’re going and looking for bodies. It’s a pretty gruesome task,” Trump said.
Schumer’s statement praising Trump and his administration comes as other Democrats such as former President Bill Clinton also stated that Trump and his administration, as well as Qatar and “other regional actors deserve great credit” for keeping Israel and Hamas “engaged until” the peace agreement was reached.
“I’m grateful that a ceasefire has taken hold, that the last 20 living hostages have been freed, and that desperately needed aid has begun to flow into Gaza,” Clinton said. “President Trump and his administration, Qatar, and other regional actors deserve great credit for keeping everyone engaged until the agreement was reached.”
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