A Bar Mitzvah is meant to be a time of ceremony and celebration marking a child’s coming of age, but for one family on Saturday, the young man at the center of the ritual may have already been forced to grow up far too fast after his older brother was one of dozens of people taken hostage by Hamas one week ago.
“We will work hour by hour both to determine whether we can account for any of those Americans or to confirm exactly what the number of Americans are being held hostage,” a White House official said.