Families of hostages visit White House, urge Netanyahu to accept deal
Following their 10th meeting at the White House Monday, the families of Americans being held by Hamas demanded that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accept a deal with Hamas to free the hostages.
"There are no more major security issues to be solved on Israel's part, it is time to bring this to an end, to end the suffering of millions on the Palestinian side," Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of American hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, told reporters following the meeting. "It is time to make that decision. No more delays."
Rachel Goldberg-Polin, mother of American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, told reporters their assumption is that Netanyahu will thank America for its steadfast support over the last 10 months and announce that he is "ready to be doing this deal."
"If this deal doesn't start, if the process doesn't start, it will be seen as a failure," she said. "We know that there are just a couple people deciding at this point. And we have optimism and hope and faith that these deciders will make the right decisions and we can start this process now."
The families declined to share any details from their meeting with the White House National Security Council, which comes ahead of Netanyahu's address to Congress this week.
-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett
