ROME (AP) — A delegation of former hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and their relatives met Thursday Pope Francis and expressed hope that the incoming and outgoing U.S. administrations would work together to bring the remaining hostages home.

Among the freed hostages was Elena Trufanov, who was freed last November but whose son Sasha remains in Gaza and appeared in a video released Wednesday by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group.

“You see in the photo how my child has changed during this year,” Elena Trufanov said at a news conference in Rome after the papal audience. “I am very worried about his condition, I see that he is not in a good mental state and not in a good physical state.”

She and the other former hostages and their loved ones renewed their call for a deal to bring the remaining hostages home, especially as winter approaches. They said they hoped new Trump administration would work with the outgoing Biden administration to move the process forward.

The war started when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023killing 1,200 people and kidnapping 250, with dozens are still in Gaza. The ensuing Israeli campaign killed more than 43,000 people, according to Gaza health authorities, whose count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, although they say more than half of the dead are women and children.

​​The war has triggered a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and plunged Israel into increasing international isolation, with two international tribunals examining war crimes chargesand had triggered a wave of protests on American campuses which fueled debate over the role of the United States as Israel’s main military and diplomatic supporter.

“We hope that with the election of Trump, with Biden – it’s not about left and right – we hope that Biden and Trump will work together now to get the hostages back before winter,” Sharone Lifshitz said , who accompanied his mother. Yocheved Lifshitz, to the audience.

His mother, a longtime peace activist, was released on October 23, 2023, but his father Oded remains in Gaza. Sharone Lifshitz, who was not kidnapped, thanked Francis for meeting with the delegation and said he promised to pray for each of the hostages still being held.

Israel says Hamas is holding around 65 hostages and the remains of around 35 others killed on October 7, 2023 or who died in captivity.

“The pope is a few years older than my father. Both are men who have spent their lives making this world a place that takes care of the weak, that takes care of each other, that transcends religions and beliefs to make it a place where humans, real humans , can live with dignity,” she said. said.

Louis Har, an Argentine Israeli freed in an Israeli army raid in Rafah last February, said he never imagined he would meet the Argentine pope. He cried at one point while recounting his ordeal to journalists gathered at the Rome headquarters of Italy’s Jewish communities. He said he gave the pope a necklace with a charm representing hope.

“I felt his sincerity, his care and the fact that we had not come in vain,” he said. “There is someone listening to us. I hope his prayers and message reach the whole world, because he has an impact on the whole world. »

Francis has I tried to find a balance in his comments on the 2023 Hamas attack and the Israeli response, as well as the conflicts in Gaza and southern Lebanon that followed. He called for an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages and the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

He also suggested that Israel’s actions in Gaza and southern Lebanon are disproportionate and immoraland says he calls a Catholic parish in Gaza every day to check on the people it is hosting.

He has already met twice with relatives of the hostages and once with Palestinians whose families have been affected by Israeli operations in Gaza.