The mother of a hostage held by Hamas said Tuesday that an American official asked her how often the terrorist group lets her talk to her son.
Rachel Goldberg, the mother of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, believed to be one of about 240 hostages Hamas captured in its Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, told CNN's Anderson Cooper that a U.S. government official asked her how often the terror group allows her speak to Goldberg-Polin.
"I started to have a conversation with this gentleman, and he said, 'So, how often do they let you talk to him?' ... It was a real slap to realize that not everyone in the American government even understands what happened, and that—forget about the 240 for just a moment—we have 10 American civilians who are part of that group. And to have American officials who, 39 days in, don't even understand what actually happened and what is continuing to happen was really shocking, shocking."
Goldberg, who had spoken at the massive pro-Israel rally on the National Mall on Tuesday, did not provide the official's name or which government agency the person belonged to.
She said earlier in her interview with Cooper that she believed people were "indifferent" toward the plight of the hostages.
"It's not even so much that they're being failed by the world, which I think is obvious," she said. "I think we as human beings are failing to be the aspiring, humane beings we claim to be. I think we have tremendous potential. I don't think that people are ignoring the 240 human beings that are buried under Gaza because they hate them. I think they're doing it because they're indifferent."
Families of the hostages have been sharing their suffering since the war began. Last week, a collection of them met with members of Congress to plead for the release of their loved ones, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
"They are scared. I can feel their hearts beating all the time," said Rita Lifshitz, who lived in one of the communities the terrorists raided. "We need to bring them back home now."