Yasmeen Elagha sits for a portrait at her family’s home on Jan. 3, 2023, in Oakbrook Terrace. More than 100 of Elagha’s relatives have died from Israeli military attacks in Gaza. She said two of her cousins who are American citizens have been taken hostage by Israeli forces in Gaza. Northwestern University law student Yasmeen Elagha, who had filed a lawsuit against the U.S.
“Then they disappeared with the men — we have no idea of their whereabouts, we don’t know where they are right now,” Elagha said. ”My aunt is just panicking because she’s thinking that now that the Israeli military knows there are civilians in the house, they are going to bomb them. Whereas in any other situation, knowledge of civilians in a home would mean the opposite. So they have since fled their shelter.
Northwestern law student sues State Department seeking family’s safe return from Gaza: ‘My pleas are falling on deaf ears.’ CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said CAIR also sent a letter to the State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem requesting that they demand the immediate release of a grandmother from New Orleans, Samaher Esmail, who was kidnapped by Israeli forces Monday.
And there is a lot that the president can do, Kari said. In 2022, Biden signed an executive order that empowers the federal government to take action against a foreign government that’s holding American citizens hostage.