Who are Judith and Natalie Raanan, the American hostages freed by Hamas?

The two American women who were freed by Hamas on Friday after being held captive for nearly two weeks are pillars of the community now celebrating their return.

Judith Raanan, 59, and her daughter, Natalie, 17, traveled to Israel from their home in Evanston, Illinois, to celebrate Judith’s mother’s 85th birthday and commemorate the Jewish holiday season with the family, the newspaper reported. Chicago Sun-Times. .

Last week, the Evanston community was devastated to learn that the couple was believed to be among those captured by Hamas terrorists when the group stormed Kibbutz Nahal Oz as part of the launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on the 7th. October.

“It has been confirmed through both the Israeli government and the United States government that Natalie and Judith were taken from the guest house in Nahal Oz at gunpoint and transported somewhere,” said Ben Raanan, Natalie’s brother. Judith’s stepson, told CNN in Tel Aviv earlier. this week.

Even in the midst of the terrorist invasion, Ben said, Natalie “has the most amazing head” and was able to text her father that she and Judith were hiding and trying to stay safe amid the sounds of explosions and shots.

Natalie Raanan graduated from high school a few months before she was kidnapped by Hamas. Bring Them Home Now/Instagram

Natalie’s father and Judith’s ex-husband, Uri Raanan, told ABC7-Chicago he last heard from his daughter as she struggled to get to a safe room.

Devastated relatives later learned that both women were among approximately 200 hostages taken by Hamas.

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Natalie graduated from Deerfield High School just a few months before the trip to Israel and was taking a gap year to travel before going to college, her family explained in a video with Israeli broadcaster Kan.

“We talked about what she wanted to do next, what she wanted to do while she was in college,” cousin Hila Cohen recalled.

Judith Raanan, 59, has been released by Hamas along with her daughter. Bring Them Home Now/Instagram

Natalie’s most imminent plans included adopting a new dog after her previous one passed away a few days before the trip.

She is also interested in fashion and interior design, her relatives told the New York Times.

“She’s a sweetheart,” her uncle, Avi Zamir, told the outlet.

“She loves animals, she likes life, she likes friends: the typical teenager.”

Rabbi Dov Hillel Klein, executive director of Chabad of Evanston, told the Chicago Sun-Times that Natalie is bright and charming.

The mother-daughter duo traveled to Israel last month.AP

“People have told me that she is a person who is a true friend, a person who is there for her friends, who is loyal and committed,” he said.

“God willing, he will have a normal and happy life ahead.”

Natalie was also remembered by activist and writer Shaun King, who posted on Facebook about the kidnapped women last week.

“Natalie and her family support me, they protested with me against police brutality in the United States and have spoken out against injustice in Israel,” he wrote.

Natalie Raanan pictured with her father, Uri Raanan.AP

King also offered to “confidently help negotiate” the teenager’s return, although it is unclear whether he played a role in Natalie and Judith’s eventual release.

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Judith, who grew up in Israel and often used her Hebrew name, Yehudit, worked as a beautician, according to the Sun-Times.

She is also a talented painter and very active in the local Chicago community, the New York Times reported.

“She loved our community. We were everything to her, like a family,” Yehudis Hecht, the wife of Rabbi Meir Hecht, whose synagogue Judith frequented, told the media.

“He loved sharing his thoughts, knowledge, dreams and experiences with all of us.”

Natalie was planning to get a new dog before she was kidnapped, her cousin said.AP

“Her eyes were always shining,” Klein told the Sun-Times about Judith, whom he has known for 15 years.

“Even in difficult times for her, she is always positive and always hopeful. She has infinite hope for a better tomorrow. She has the resilience and strength to get through this difficult time.”

Despite her deep connections in Evanston, Judith often longed for Israel, her friends recalled.

“He was quite Israeli, whether he was here or there,” his friend Chavah Rochel Golden explained to the New York Times.

“I missed being around Israelis. She felt at home with Israelis and she missed that: the energy of Israel.”

Natalie with her grandmother Tamar Leviathan, whose birthday they flew to Israel to celebrate. Bring Them Home Now/Instagram

Judith became more religious as she got older and wanted her daughter to feel connected to Israel, Rivka Benyihoun of the Chicago Chabad center told the New York Times.

A former neighbor, Carol Krikorian, added that it was difficult to imagine the vibrant mother and her daughter in captivity.

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“Now I look out the back window and think, ‘How come this girl who was in the backyard with her friends is now in the hands of these people, these monsters?’” he lamented.

On Friday, Hamas announced that it had released an American mother and daughter for “humanitarian reasons.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office later confirmed that the Raanans had been released by the terrorist group and were headed to a military base in central Israel to reunite with their family.

No trade was reportedly made as part of the launch, multiple outlets said.

“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.”

Uri and Ben Raanan could not immediately be reached for comment on Natalie and Judith’s return.

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Source: vtt.edu.vn

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