Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on the morning of Tuesday, Oct. 17. Photo: Presidencia

By KELIN DILLON

During his daily press conference on the morning of Tuesday, Oct. 17, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) confirmed that his administration is negotiating with Palestinian militant group Hamas for the return of two Mexican citizens, who were taken hostage by the group amid last week’s escalating Israel-Palestine conflict, back to Mexico.

Just one day prior, AMLO administration spokesperson Jesús Ramírez Cuevas announced that the Mexican Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (SRE) is seeking communication with Hamas to seek the return of Mexican citizens Ilana Gritzewsky and Orión Hernández, who have been missing since Hamas penetrated Israeli territory on Oct. 7.

“We have communication with the families and we are working with all governments, with all organizations. because we want to save the lives of these two people,” said AMLO on Tuesday.

“We are talking to everyone, not just one aspect, we don’t even have anything firm yet, so we are doing work that also requires, in this case, secrecy, to act with a lot of responsibility, as what we want is to save lives.”

The nation previously sent two flights manned by the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena) to bring Mexican citizens that were stranded in Israel back to Mexico.