Ambassador Huckabee meets with hostage families, calls for pressuring Hamas rather than Israel

Newly arrived U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, met with the families of Israeli-American hostages on Tuesday, after officially presenting his credentials to Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday. 

Ambassador Huckabee’s meeting with the hostage families came as part of his official appearance at the embassy to meet the staff, and demonstrates that the issue of securing the release of the hostages appears to be a high priority for him. 

“We have no higher priority than seeing all hostages released,” Ambassador Huckabee posted on his official 𝕏 account. 

Today I met with the families of American citizens held hostage by Hamas terrorists. I was deeply moved by their stories. The anguish they have felt every day since October 7th is simply unimaginable.

We have no higher priority than seeing all hostages released. I will do… pic.twitter.com/RaFjlLk40T

— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@USAmbIsrael) April 22, 2025

Huckabee also promised to “do everything in my power to ensure Edan Alexander is reunited with his family, and that the four deceased Americans that Hamas continues to hold hostage are returned to their loved ones.” 

Despite a 'sign of life' regarding Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, there has been recent concern for his life after Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida claimed the group had lost contact with Alexander and the terrorists holding him following an Israeli strike in Gaza. 

Huckabee arrived in Israel ahead of Easter weekend, being hosted for a traditional Friday evening Shabbat dinner at the house of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and visiting the Western Wall to pray and to place a prayer from U.S. President Donald Trump in the Western Wall. 

Huckabee met with Netanyahu in an official capacity on Tuesday, along with U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno (R-OH). 

"Prime Minister Netanyahu and his wife welcomed new Ambassador Huckabee and wished him success in his important position," the Prime Minister's Office said.

In a first indication of the new U.S. policy he will represent, Huckabee posted a video on his official 𝕏 account, saying that Dr. Hanan Balkhy, the regional coordinator for the World Health Organization, reached out to him, asking him to pressure Israel to resume humanitarian aid entry to the Gaza Strip. 

In the video, Huckabee states that the pressure should instead be applied to Hamas. He said that if Hamas agreed to a hostage deal, the flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip would be resumed. 

A @WHO official called upon me to put pressure on Israel to bring more humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. How about we put the pressure where it really belongs – on Hamas. pic.twitter.com/5AAv5Q63DD

— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@USAmbIsrael) April 21, 2025

“We call upon Hamas to sign an agreement so that humanitarian aid can flow into Gaza to the people who desperately need it,” Huckabee said. 

Israel stopped the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza in early March, saying that a significant amount of the aid was being diverted to Hamas terrorists and was not reaching the Palestinian civilians. 

“When that happens and hostages are released – which is an urgent matter for all of us – then we hope that that humanitarian aid will flow and flow freely, knowing that it will be done without Hamas being able to confiscate and abuse their own people by not allowing those resources to get to the people who desperately need it,” Huckabee continued. 

While the United Nations has recently warned that Gaza is facing a severe food shortage after the cessation of aid, the office of the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), said the amount of food aid which entered Gaza during the hostage-ceasefire deal was sufficient to support the population of Gaza for several months more, provided Hamas does not keep the aid for itself. 

Here is what you need to know about the amount of food in Gaza:

📍During the hostage release deal, 25,200 trucks entered Gaza, carrying almost 450,000 tons of aid. That's nearly a third of the total trucks that entered Gaza during the entire war, in just over a month.

📍The… pic.twitter.com/uWPENT5zTE

— COGAT (@cogatonline) April 1, 2025

Responding to Ambassador Huckabee’s post on his personal 𝕏 account, Netanyahu wrote, “Aid that goes to Hamas is not Humanitarian.”