Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the families of the eight American hostages on Tuesday morning in Israel before traveling to Jordan to participate in the "Call for Action: Urgent Humanitarian Response for Gaza" Conference.
The families meeting with Blinken comes a week after they met with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan at the White House.
American hostages Itay Chen, Gad Haggai and Judy Weinstein have been confirmed dead and their bodies remain in Gaza. American hostage Liat Beinin was released in November during the initial ceasefire.
There has been no word of American hostages Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Omer Neutra or Edan Alexander since October 7.
The families have called on the Biden administration to ramp up pressure on Qatar to in turn increase pressure on Hamas leadership to accept a deal.
While meeting with Blinken, the families said all parties should remain focused until there is a total hostage release, according to a statement from a group representing the families.
"The families expressed gratitude for Secretary Blinken’s visit to the region and his dedicated efforts to secure the release of their loved ones," the statement said.
US considering unilateral negotiations with Hamas
On Monday, NBC reported the Biden administration has considered negotiating directly with Hamas on the release of the American hostages.
The group representing families declined to comment to The Post on NBC's reporting.
After meeting with the families, Blinken addressed the Gaza humanitarian aid conference in Sweimeh, Jordan led by King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
"The single most effective step we can take to address the urgent humanitarian challenges in Gaza is to reach an immediate – and ultimately, enduring – ceasefire," Blinken said. "Eleven days ago, President Biden set out a comprehensive proposal to do precisely that."
Blinken said when he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, the Israeli leader reaffirmed his commitment to bringing the ceasefire proposal across the finish line.
"So my primary and first message today to every government, to every multilateral institution, to every humanitarian organization that wants to relieve the massive suffering in Gaza: Get Hamas to take the deal," Blinken said. "Press them publicly, press them privately."
Hamas should not require much convincing as the proposal is nearly identical to the one Hamas itself proposed on May 6, according to Blinken.
In his remarks, Blinken spoke of Palestinian children who have been severely wounded and orphaned and who remain without access to food and water.
"They’re not abstractions. They’re human beings – they’re children, they’re women, they’re men – who all want the same things that we want for ourselves and for our loved ones, just like the people who were murdered in Israel on October 7th, just like the hostages who continue to be held in Gaza to this day," Blinken said.
"So let’s do more than just call for a better future for Palestinians and Israelis. Let’s help build that path to the future, do it together," he added. "And we can start by maximizing all of the efforts that we’re engaged in to help the people who need it and help them now."