'We just want our innocent people back': Sister of Hamas hostage pleads for her release

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We just want our innocent people back: Yarden Gonen

Yarden Gonen, the sister of Hamas hostage Romi Gonen, says the terror group is 'playing' with the families of hostages like 'pawns in a chess game' on 'Fox News Live.'

Yarden Gonen, the sister of Hamas hostage Romi Gonen, said she wants people to know that her sister is more than just another poster – she’s a human being. 

Gonen’s family took part in a four-day march from southern Israel to Jerusalem to call for the release of Romi and the estimated 134 remaining hostages.

"We've marched for four days from the place that [it] all started for me and my family and for, unfortunately, a lot of others, from the Nova parking lot near Reim, Kibbutz Reim," Gonen said Sunday on "Fox News Live." "And along the way, we could see the whole country started to gather, surrounding us, join[ing] the ride, the march, even sleeping with us in tents at night."

She estimated there were about 20,000 people who marched with them to Jerusalem.  

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - 2024/03/02: Israeli hostage families carry the photos of their loved ones who are held hostage by Hamas in Gaza as they march to Jerusalem. ((Photo by Matan Golan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images))

"It was very significant, the feeling of unity for life. You know, to celebrate the living and to try to defeat the evil," Gonen added. "Our fight is against terror and not against anything else. There [are] innocent people from all sides and we just want our innocent people back. I really miss my little sister." 

Hamas militants killed roughly 1,200 people during their Oct. 7 terror attack, most of whom were civilians, and kidnapped roughly 240 people, bringing them to the Gaza Strip.

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The Biden administration said it worked in "close coordination" with Qatar, Egypt and Israel in late November to secure the release of 105 hostages held by Hamas during a temporary cease-fire. The majority of the hostages released were women, children and foreign nationals. 

Gonen said she hasn’t received any new information about her sister in the past 94 days. She said Hamas is playing with the families of hostages like they’re "pawns in a chess game." 

A picture of Hamas hostage Romi Gonen. ((Fox News Live))

"My sister is not a tool of war, and they shouldn't have kidnapped her or any other people in the first place," she said. "[My sister is] so amazing and she's so lovely and caring, and she's a really good friend and a really good sister, and she's a human being, you know, she just went to a music festival." 

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed during the five-month war and more than 70,000 have been wounded. Cease-fire negotiations, which most likely would include the release of more hostages, have stalled in recent months.

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However, a senior Biden administration official said Saturday that a second cease-fire deal is "on the table." "There’s a framework deal. The Israelis have more or less accepted it. And there will be a six-week cease-fire in Gaza starting today if Hamas agrees to release the defined category of vulnerable hostages — this has been under negotiation now for some time — the sick, the wounded, elderly and women," the official said. 

Pictures of loved ones who have been captured by Hamas on display during a Defend Israeli Democracy UK press conference at Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel in London by Sharon Lifschitz and Noam Sagi, two London-based British Israelis whose parents are among the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Picture date: Thursday October 12, 2023. (Photo by Lucy North/PA Images via Getty Images) (Photo by Lucy North/PA Images via Getty Images)

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"And the onus right now is on Hamas. So there are talks still underway. They’re ongoing today in Doha.  And we have been working to get this in place by Ramadan for some time. There has been significant progress over the last few weeks. But like all things, until a deal is actually done, it’s not done."