Celebrating Thanksgiving, President Biden Mentions the Conflict in Gaza to US Citizens Detained by Russia

President Biden with First Lady Jill Biden (Wikimedia Commons/The White House)

JAKARTA - President Joe Biden delivered pumpkin pie to firefighters on Thursday, to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, expressing his hope regarding the release of hostages in Gaza and its citizens held in Russia.

President Biden, who is vacationing with his family on the Massachusetts island of Nantucket, spent some of his time talking to foreign leaders about the Hamas-Israel war.

He told reporters at the fire station he would not provide an update on the hostages until Friday.

However, he said he remained hopeful that a 3-year-old American girl would be among those released first, according to Reuters, November 24.

Israel and Hamas will begin a four-day ceasefire on Friday, Qatari mediators said. A group of 13 Israeli women and children held hostage will be freed that day.

It is known that President Biden has had a decades-long family tradition of coming to Nantucket to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday.

After he and his wife, first lady Jill Biden, delivered the cake, they returned to where they were staying during the trip, the home of their friend David Rubenstein, the billionaire co-founder of private equity giant The Carlyle Group.

In his previous remarks on NBC, President Biden urged society to focus on solving common problems and ending the rancor in US society.

"Today is about coming together," said President Biden, a Democrat seeking re-election in 2024.

When asked at the firehouse about his message to Americans Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, who are being held in Russia, President Biden said: "We will not give up."