UPDATE: HAMAS RELEASES TWO US HOSTAGES

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Among the 200 or so captives they took during the horrific bombings on October 7 in Israel, Gaza’s Hamas rulers freed two Americans on Friday and hinted that more would come.

According to the Israeli government, Judith Tai Raanan and her daughter, Natalie Shoshana Raanan, returned to Israel late on Friday.

US President Joe Biden immediately expressed his happiness at the announcement, but no information was provided regarding their condition.

Additionally, in a hint that additional releases might come, Hamas stated that it was collaborating with Egypt and Qatar to free its “civilian” hostages.

An Israeli ambassador greeted the two at the Gaza border, and they were driven to a military base in central Israel, “where their families are waiting to meet them.”

On October 7, the American mother and daughter were taken from the Nahal Oz kibbutz, close to the border between Israel and Gaza. At the time, they were supposedly on vacation in Israel.

Like many of the hostages, the Ranaan family had started an international campaign to demand that attempts be made to free them from Gaza.

According to Hamas, “(Ezzedine) al-Qassam Brigades released two American citizens for humanitarian reasons” in response to requests from Egypt and Qatar.

“We are working with all mediators to implement the movement’s decision to close the civilian (hostage) file if appropriate security conditions allow,” declared Gaza’s Islamist leadership. It did not specify what it wanted.

According to Israel, during the bloodiest attacks in Israel’s 75-year history, Hamas terrorists kidnapped 203 people, including foreigners, Israelis, and dual nationals. The government reports that at least 1,400 individuals were murdered, the majority of them civilians.

The Hamas administration claims that Israel’s ceaseless bombing campaign against the Gaza Strip in retaliation has killed at least 4,137 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians.

The hostages have become a major issue in Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the government would use “any means available to locate all those missing and bring home all the kidnapped.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it helped transport the freed Americans to Israel.

Its president Mirjana Spoljaric said their release provided a “sliver of hope” for the families of other hostages and called on all sides in the conflict to show “a minimum of humanity”.

The release came two days after Biden made a solidarity visit to Israel to offer support over the attack.

“Our fellow citizens have endured a terrible ordeal these past 14 days, and I am overjoyed that they will soon be reunited with their family, who has been wracked with fear,” he said in a statement.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for more releases “immediately and unconditionally”.

Qatar is a major donor of aid to Gaza and two Hamas leaders are based in the Gulf state. A Qatari foreign ministry spokesman said the country had mediated between Hamas and the United States and that the release followed “many days of continuous communication between all the parties involved.

“We will continue our dialogue with both the Israelis and Hamas, and we hope these efforts will lead to the release of all civilian hostages from every nationality, with the ultimate aim of de-escalating the current crisis and restoring peace,” said the spokesman, Majid al-Ansari.

The Israeli military said earlier Friday that most of those abducted to Gaza were still alive even though some dead bodies have been found on incursions into Gaza.

The military said more than 20 hostages were minors, while between 10 and 20 were over the age of 60.

There are also between 100 and 200 people considered missing since the Hamas attacks, the army added.

AFP