An American mother and daughter who were taken hostage when Hamas stormed a kibbutz they visited earlier this month have been freed, officials said Friday.
Judith Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter, Natalie, were both released from Hamas custody in Gaza and are said to be on their way to a military base in central Israel to reunite with their families, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed on X.
A later photo showed the mother and daughter being escorted through the night by military officers.
Before Netanyahu’s statement, Hamas officials said that they released the two women following Qatar’s intervention in the negotiation effort.
“In response to Qatar’s efforts, the Al-Qassam Brigades released two Americans (a mother and her daughter) on humanitarian grounds, and to prove to the American people and the world that the allegations made by Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless. ,” the announcement said, according to the Times of Israel.
Both victims were evacuated from Gaza to the Israeli border by the Red Cross, the official added.
Judith Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter Natalie have been seen for the first time since their release. GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL Judith Raanan and her 18-year-old daughter, Natalie, were among those held hostage by Hamas.
They were released because of Judith’s deteriorating health, the Times of Israel reported.
Natalie Raanan may return to America as early as next week, her brother Ben told CNN Friday night.
“We have heard tentatively that he will probably return to Chicago early next week,” he said, adding that he heard about their release through the media.
“This is all moving so fast, I got a text from a reporter I met saying this is happening,” Raanan said of the release of his sister and stepmother. “I believe this is because the government does not want to contact us before it is confirmed.”
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Judith Raanan was on her way to meet her family. Bring Them Home Now/Instagram
President Biden spoke with Raanan after their release, he announced on X.
“I just spoke to two Americans who were released today after being held hostage by Hamas. I told them that their government will fully support them as they recover and heal,” he said.
“Jill and I will continue to hold firmly in our hearts all the unknown families for the American people.”
In a statement earlier in the day, the commander-in-chief said, “Our fellow citizens have been through a terrible ordeal for the past 14 days, and I am very happy that they will soon be reunited with their families, who have been struck by fear.”
“I am grateful to the government of Qatar and the government of Israel for their cooperation in this work,” he added. “And, as I told those families when I spoke to them last week — we will not stop until we bring our loved ones home. As president, I have no higher priority than the safety of Americans who are being held hostage around the world.”
Judith and Natalie, from Evanston, Illinois, were taken hostage when Hamas stormed Kibbutz Nahal Oz 13 days ago, it was previously reported.
Their release is “hopefully the beginning of things to come,” a diplomatic source told CNN.
A woman in Tel Aviv saw a poster showing a picture of Israeli hostages being held by Palestinian terrorists. AFP via Getty Images
The same source also confirmed that no exchange was involved in the release, the outlet said.
“The family headquarters welcomes the release of the hostages from Hamas custody,” the Forum for Hostages and Missing Families — which represents relatives of Hamas hostages — said in a statement sent to CNN.
“The continued holding of hostages is a war crime. “Hundreds of families are waiting for help from the leaders of Arab countries after the actions of Hamas shocked the whole world,” the article continued.
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“Hamas committed war crimes. Many leaders in Arab countries have great influence over their leaders and must act to immediately release all hostages and missing persons held in Gaza.”
Uri Raanan, Natalie’s father and Judith’s ex-husband, could not immediately be reached by The Post for comment.
Natalie Raanan with her grandmother, whose 85th birthday they went to Israel to celebrate. Bring Them Home Now/Instagram
Since his daughter and ex-partner disappeared, Uri Raanan, who also lives in Illinois, has maintained a Facebook page covered in appeals for the couple’s release.
He also opened a GoFundMe for the effort, which stopped accepting donations late Thursday or early Friday.
The Raanan family was enjoying a “very special” trip to Israel to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the month of Judith and observe the Jewish holiday season when the Hamas war began, their rabbi, Meir Hecht, told the outlet.
Family members of the mother and daughter have also been informed, the report added.
“This is a huge sigh of relief,” brother Martin Fletcher, an NBC correspondent who has covered the Middle East and is the network’s Tel Aviv bureau chief, told MSNBC. “It was a miracle.”
Ben Raanan told NewsNation that he thought he would “just hug them and not let them go. I don’t think there are words to describe the emotions we will feel” when he finally reunites with his sister and stepmother.
Armed terrorists from Hamas captured at least 203 people — including children and the elderly — and killed hundreds more during the launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7.
Both victims were evacuated from Gaza to the Israeli border by the Red Cross, the official added. Bring Them Home Now/Instagram
The deadly attack – which began when Hamas stormed through a border crossing between southern Israel and the Gaza Strip and fired thousands of rockets in just a few hours – started an Israel-Hamas war that has killed more than 1,400 Israelis.
Since the beginning of the conflict, Israeli officials have vowed to eliminate Hamas while also seeking to rescue hostages, many of whom are believed to be held in the terror group’s tunnel system under Gaza.
At one point, Hamas suggested that hostages could be exchanged for some 6,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
The group also stated that more than 20 hostages had been killed by Israeli airstrikes, but did not provide further details.
The worst attack on Israel in 50 years: How we got here
2005: Israel unilaterally withdraws from the Gaza Strip three decades after winning the territory from Egypt in the Six-Day War.
2006: The terrorist group Hamas wins Palestinian legislative elections.
2007: Hamas takes control of Gaza in a civil war.
2008: Israel launched a military offensive against Gaza after Palestinian terrorists fired rockets into the city of Sderot.
2023: Hamas launches its biggest attack on Israel in 50 years.
More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, more than 4,200 wounded and at least 100 taken hostage, with the death toll expected to rise after Hamas terrorists fired thousands of rockets and sent dozens of militants into Israeli cities.
Hamas terrorists are seen taking women hostage and parading them through the streets in a gruesome video.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced “We are at war” and promised Hamas would pay an “unprecedented price.”
Gaza health officials reported at least 3,000 Palestinians killed and more than 12,500 injured.
Israel then announced that the formidable blockade on the Peninsula would not end until all the hostages were released.
Hopeful viewers, however, should be careful not to believe Hamas’ “humanitarian” angle in freeing Raanan, former FBI agent and hostage-taking expert Christopher O’Leary told The Post.
Mia Shem, 21, appeared alive in a hostage video released on Oct. 16.
“They’re doing this for calculated reasons,” O’Leary insisted, noting that “Hamas doesn’t have a humanitarian bone in their body.”
“This is not goodwill or a gesture of good will… they are playing long with the hostages,” he added.
“They may do it to build credibility in negotiations, [because] now they don’t look like legitimate negotiators.
“It could also be a counter-narrative to what Biden released yesterday, going after Hamas and categorizing them as a terrorist organization.”
“Hamas is a very important terrorist organization,” O’Leary said.
President Biden spoke with Judith and Natalie Raanan after his release. White House Rachel Goldberg, the US-Israeli mother of Hersh Goldberg Polin, who was taken hostage by Hamas militants to the Gaza Strip.REUTERS
On October 20 — nearly two weeks after the initial Hamas attack — the Israel Defense Forces also confirmed that more than 20 of the hostages were under the age of 18, with 10 to 20 over the age of 60, the Wall Street Journal reported.
At the time, the IDF also said it had reason to believe that the majority of hostages were still alive – although it was still scanning the Gaza border for the bodies of missing Israelis, spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said at a press conference, per Zaman Israel.
Several hostages are believed to have been taken from the attack on the Tribe of Nova music festival in the southern Negev, where 260 people were shot dead when Hamas stormed an outdoor concert area.
One of the festival’s captives, Mia Shem, appeared alive in a brief clip on October 16 and detailed a harrowing three-hour operation in Gaza before pleading for her release.
“They took care of me, gave me medicine, everything was fine. I just ask them to take me home as soon as possible to my parents, to my siblings,” pleaded the 21-year-old man.
“Get me out of here as soon as possible. Please.”
Photographs of those who disappeared were seen as a “Shabbat Dinner” table was set up in the plaza of the Tel Aviv museum, with 200 empty seats, representing the hostages.Getty Images
Hostage families have spoken out regularly individually and through Bring Them Home Now, an organization created to represent their missing loved ones.
In the midst of their suffering, many of them expressed frustration with the Israeli government.
“Every moment, every moment, our children have too many one moment, but everything [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu talked about ‘winning the war,’” Hadas Kalderon, whose son, daughter, mother and niece were taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, told the Washington Post.
On October 18, Calderon learned that his mother, Carmela, and his niece, Noya, had both died. There is still no information about his son, Erez, 12, or his daughter, Sahar, who is 16 years old.
“We are simple people; we are good citizens. We give whatever we can for our country. Only the Israeli government has forgotten us,” he lamented.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
