Two U.S. hostages, a mother and daughter from a Chicago suburb, were released by the militant group Hamas on Friday, officials announced. According to a spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, the released hostages were identified as Judith and Natalie Raanan.
Israel’s military and security forces met the couple at the country’s border with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement. They were taken to a military base where they would be reunited with their family members.
An Israeli official told CBS News that they are dual Israeli-American citizens. The couple were also seen by the Red Cross, reported “Face the Nation” presenter Margaret Brennan.
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“Our fellow citizens have endured a terrible ordeal over the past 14 days, and I am overjoyed that they will soon be reunited with their fear-stricken family,” President Biden said in a statement.
Why did Hamas release Judith and Natalie Raanan?
A message on a Hamas-affiliated Telegram channel said the release was for “humanitarian reasons.”
Judith and Natalie Raanan CBS
The developments come nearly two weeks after Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, carried out a brutal terror attack in southern Israel that sparked a war. Israel said its sustained airstrikes hit more Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Friday as it began evacuating a town near the northern border with Lebanon.
According to CBS News Chicago, the two were visiting family members in Israel, near the border with Gaza, in a community called Nahal Oz, a kibbutz that was attacked by Hamas. Natalie Raanan just graduated from Deerfield High School in the northern suburbs of Chicago.
Her uncle, Avi Zamir, told CBS News Chicago that she texted the family shortly after the bombing began on Oct. 7 and said, “We’re all fine, yes, indeed.” Mom’s room where she slept was bombed, but it’s us.” Now I’m moving to another guesthouse where there is accommodation.
Israel’s military accuses Hamas of taking over 200 people hostage.
Israel’s ongoing airstrikes on Gaza continued Friday but ceased in the early afternoon, surprising some people in the Palestinian territories and leading some to question whether there was a ceasefire, CBS News from Gaza reported.
CBS News will air a one-hour special titled “Israel-Hamas War: The World on the Edge” on Friday, October 20 at 10 p.m. ET on CBS and CBS News Streaming. To watch, download the CBS News app on your mobile phone or connected TV.
Israel and Hamas at war
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