Statement: Make a Deal and Bring the Hostages Home

The following statement has been released by Annette Lantos, wife of the late Congressman Tom Lantos and Chair Emerita of the Lantos Foundation; Katrina Lantos Swett, President of the Lantos Foundation; and Annette Lantos Tillemann-Dick, Chair of the Lantos Foundation Advisory Board:

One year ago, on October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists took 250 innocent people from nations across the globe hostage in a brutal attack. Today, 101 remain captive in Gaza, enduring unimaginable suffering without basic necessities like food, water or medicine. 

Every day since has been agonizing for the hostages and their families. This is a humanitarian crisis, not a political one. We felt hope when a deal in November brought 100 hostages home. Now, it’s time to act again. 

The Lantos Foundation, in keeping with its mission standing up for human rights and justice, calls upon the international community to make a deal and bring the remaining hostages home alive immediately. For babies, young children, women, the elderly, and Holocaust survivors, it has been 365 days too many. It’s time to bring them home, before it’s too late.