In Gaza, Hamas announced Friday, October 20 in the afternoon that it had released two hostages, an American woman and her daughter kidnapped during the attack carried out on October 7 on Israeli territory. Liberation “ for humanitarian reasons “, Hamas said. The two freed American hostages have arrived in Israel, the Israeli government announced Friday evening.
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The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement Friday evening that the two women, Judith Tai Raanan and Natalie Shoshana Raanan, “ were freed from the hands of the terrorist organization Hamas ” and this ” head to a meeting point, in a military station in the center of the country, where their family members are waiting for them “.
The two hostages were released following mediation by Qatar, according to Hamas, which also claims that these releases aim to “ prove to the American people and the entire world that the allegations made by US President Joe Biden and his fascist administration are baseless “.
For its part, Israel specifies that they are not part of any agreement. According to Hebrew media, the two hostages were handed over to the Red Cross, and were to pass through Egypt before returning to Israel.
Israel, before this announcement, estimated at 203 the number of people held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the October 7 attack – Israelis, foreigners, civilians, soldiers. Hostages of 22 different nationalities, with more than 20 minors, and between 10 and 20 people over 60 years old. According to the Israeli army, the majority are alive. For its part, Hamas claims that 22 were killed in Israeli bombings.
According to Bloomberg, the American and European governments are pushing for Israel to delay its ground offensive on Gaza so that negotiations to secure the release of the hostages can continue.