An American mother and daughter who were taken hostage when Hamas stormed the kibbutz they were visiting earlier this month have been freed, officials said Friday.
Judith Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter, Natalie, were released from Hamas custody in Gaza and were said to be heading to a military base in central Israel to reunite with their family, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed. in X.
A photograph later showed the mother and daughter being escorted through the night by what appeared to be military officers.
Before Netanyahu’s statement, Hamas officials said they released the two women following Qatar’s intervention in negotiation efforts.
“In response to Qatar’s efforts, the Al-Qassam Brigades released two American citizens (a mother and her daughter) for humanitarian reasons and to demonstrate to the American people and the world that the claims made by Biden and his fascist administration are false. and unfounded. ” the ad said, according to the Times of Israel.
The two victims were transported from Gaza to the Israeli border by the Red Cross, the officials added.
Judith Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter Natalie are seen for the first time since their release. GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL Judith Raanan and her 18-year-old daughter Natalie are among those taken hostage by Hamas.
They were released due to Judith’s deteriorating health, the Times of Israel reported.
Follow The Post’s live blog for the latest on Hamas’ attack on Israel.
Judith Raanan was on her way to meet her family. Bring Them Home Now/Instagram
President Biden spoke with the Raanans after their release, he announced on X.
“I just spoke with the two Americans released today after being held hostage by Hamas. I let them know that their government will fully support them as they recover and heal.” he said.
“Jill and I will continue to hold all the families of missing Americans close to our hearts.”
In a statement that same day, the commander in chief said: “Our fellow citizens have endured a terrible ordeal these past 14 days, and I am very happy that they will soon be reunited with their family, who have been tormented by fear.”
“I thank the government of Qatar and the government of Israel for their collaboration in this work,” he added. “And, as I told those families when I spoke to them last week, we will not stop until we can bring their loved ones home. “As president, I have no higher priority than the safety of Americans 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.
His release is “hopefully the beginning of more things to come,” a diplomatic source told CNN.
A woman in Tel Aviv looks at posters showing photographs of Israeli hostages held by Palestinian terrorists. AFP via Getty Images
The same source also confirmed that there were no trades involved in the launch, the outlet noted.
“Families Headquarters welcomes the release of the hostages from Hamas captivity,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, 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 states after Hamas’ actions shocked the entire world,” the article continues.
Looking to help? Donate here to the UJA Federation of New York emergency fund to provide critical relief to the people of Israel, working with a network of nonprofit organizations helping Jewish communities around the world.
“Hamas committed war crimes. “Many leaders of Arab states have enormous influence over their leaders and must act to immediately release all hostages and missing persons held in Gaza.”
The Post could not immediately reach Uri Raanan, Natalie’s father and Judith’s ex-husband, for comment.
Natalie Raanan with her grandmother, whose 85th birthday they had traveled to Israel to celebrate. Bring them home now/Instagram
Since his daughter and ex-spouse disappeared, Uri Raanan, who also lives in Illinois, has maintained a Facebook page filled with petitions for the couple’s release.
He also started a GoFundMe for the effort, which stopped accepting donations sometime Thursday night or early Friday.
The Raanans were enjoying a “really special” trip to Israel to celebrate the 85th birthday of the month of Judith and observe the Jewish holiday season when the Hamas war began, their rabbi, Meir Hecht, told the outlet.
Relatives of the mother and daughter have also been informed, the report added.
“This is a big sigh of relief,” Martin Fletcher, an NBC correspondent who once covered the Middle East and was the network’s Tel Aviv bureau chief, told MSNBC. “It is a miracle.”
Armed Hamas terrorists took at least 203 people captive, including young children and the elderly, and killed hundreds more during the early morning launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7.
The two victims were transported from Gaza to the Israeli border by the Red Cross, the officials added. Bring Them Home Now/Instagram
The deadly raid, which began when Hamas stormed the border crossing between southern Israel and the Gaza Strip and launched thousands of rockets in just a couple of hours, started the war between Israel and Hamas that has since killed more than 1,400 Israelis.
Since the start of the conflict, Israeli officials have vowed to eliminate Hamas while also working to rescue hostages, many of whom were believed to be held in the terrorist group’s tunnel system beneath Gaza.
At one point, Hamas suggested that the hostages could be exchanged for the approximately 6,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
The group also claimed that more than 20 hostages had been killed in 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 more than three decades after seizing the territory from Egypt in the Six-Day War.
2006: The terrorist group Hamas wins the Palestinian legislative elections.
2007: Hamas takes control of Gaza in a civil war.
2008: Israel launches a military offensive against Gaza after Palestinian terrorists fire rockets at the city of Sderot.
2023: Hamas launches largest 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 were seen taking women hostage and parading them down the street in gruesome videos.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced “We are at war” and promised that Hamas would pay “a price it has never known.”
Gaza health officials report that at least 3,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 12,500 injured.
Israel subsequently announced that its formidable blockade of the Strip would not end until all hostages were freed.
However, hopeful viewers should be careful not to trust Hamas’ “humanitarian” angle on the Raanan’s release, former FBI agent and hostage team expert Christopher O’Leary told The Post.
Mia Shem, 21, appeared alive in a hostage video posted on October 16.
“They’re doing this for calculated reasons,” O’Leary insisted, noting that “Hamas doesn’t have a humanitarian bone in its body.”
“This was not a gesture of good will or good faith… they are playing a long game with the hostages,” he added.
“Perhaps they are doing it to generate some credibility in the negotiations, [because] He doesn’t look like a legitimate negotiator right now.
“It could also be a counter-narrative to what Biden presented yesterday, directly attacking Hamas and categorizing it as a terrorist organization.”
“Hamas is the quintessential terrorist organization,” O’Leary concluded.
President Biden speaks with Judith and Natalie Raanan after their release. The White House Rachel Goldberg, the American-Israeli mother of Hersh Goldberg Polin, who was taken hostage by Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.REUTERS
On October 20, almost two weeks after the initial Hamas attack, the Israel Defense Forces also confirmed that more than 20 of the hostages were under 18 years old, and another 10 to 20 were over 60 years old, the Wall reported. Street Journal.
At the time, the IDF also said it had reason to believe that most of the hostages were still alive, although it was still scanning the Gaza border for bodies of missing Israelis, spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a statement. press conference, according to Israeli times.
Several hostages are believed to have been taken during the attack on the Tribe of Nova music festival in the southern Negev, where 260 people were shot dead when Hamas stormed the open-air concert area.
One of the festival’s captives, Mia Shem, appeared alive in a short video on October 16, detailing a harrowing three-hour surgery in Gaza before pleading for her release.
“They are taking care of me, giving me medication, everything is fine. I only ask that you take me home as soon as possible to my parents, to my brothers,” the 21-year-old pleaded.
“Get me out of here as soon as possible. Please.”
Photographs of the missing are seen while a “Shabbat Dinner” table is prepared in the Tel Aviv museum square, with 200 empty seats, representing the hostages.Getty Images
The families of the hostages have spoken out frequently, both individually and through Bring Them Home Now, an organization created to represent the loved ones of the missing.
In the midst of their agony, many of them expressed their frustration with the Israeli government.
“Every second, every second that our children are there, is a second too long and yet we all [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu talks 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, Kalderon learned that his mother, Carmela, and niece, Noya, were dead. There was still no information about his 12-year-old son, Erez, or his 16-year-old daughter, Sahar.
“We are simple people; We are good citizens. We gave everything we could to our country. It is the Israeli government that simply forgot us,” he lamented.
With post cables
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn