Hamas says it released American mother, daughter hostages for humanitarian reasons

An American woman and her daughter taken Hostage by Hamas from Israel were released on Friday, with the U.S.-designated terrorist group saying it had made the decision for humanitarian reasons, according to the organization and media reports.

Abu Obaida, a spokesperson for Hamas’s military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, confirmed in a statement that the two Americans were released. 

Qatar led the negotiations with Hamas to secure the release, diplomatic sources told the Times of Israel (TOI), and that the U.S. also contributed to the effort.

The hostages were identified as Judith Raanan and her daughter Natalie, a senior Israeli official told TOI, and that the pair were transferred to the International Red Cross ahead of their arrival in Israel.

The mother and daughter’s release comes as aid trucks bound for Gaza are loitering on the Egyptian side of the Strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that no aid can enter Gaza until Hamas releases hostages, though President Biden said he had secured a commitment from both Israel and Egypt to allow aid to begin flowing. 

Biden on Friday said that at least 20 aid trucks are expected to cross Gaza’s border with Egypt in the next 24-48 hours.

“I believe you will see…I got a commitment from the Israelis and the president of Egypt that the crossing will be open,” he said in remarks from the Oval Office.

Rabbi Meir Hecht told ABC-7 Chicago earlier this week that Judith and her daughter Natalie Raanan, who turned 18 over the past week, had traveled to Israel for a relative's 85th birthday and to celebrate the Jewish holiday season.

Ben Raanan told ABC-7 that after losing contact with his mother and sister in the wake of Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7, Biden had reached out and spoke with the family at length. 

Israel has said that Hamas holds at least 203 hostages in the Gaza Strip, who they kidnapped while carrying out a terrorist attack against Israel on Oct. 7, that combined a mass of rocket barrages with a ground infiltration and massacre, with an estimated 1,400 people killed.

The Biden administration has said that over a dozen Americans remain unaccounted for but has not confirmed that they are being held hostage by Hamas.

American families in Israel have spoken out, saying they believe their loved ones are being held by the terrorist organization.

Hamas has released videos of hostages, including of an Israeli woman named Mia Schem, who said her hand was injured in Hamas’s initial attack and underwent surgery in the Gaza Strip, demonstrating that the terrorist group was taking care of her even as she asked to be released back to her family.

Hamas has said it seeks to use hostages as bargaining chips to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, and has said that it is treating the hostages as “esteemed guests.”

—Updated at 2:37 p.m.