Two American hostages captured by the Palestinian group Hamas have been released and are in Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Friday, after the The Islamist movement announced that it had freed a woman and her daughter.

The Israeli government identified the women as Judith Tai Raanan and Natalie Shoshana Raanan.

Both were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nahal Oz in southern Israel while celebrating a family member’s 85th birthday when Islamist fighters launched an unprecedented deadly offensive against Israeli territory on October 7, taking them to the Gaza Strip, US media reported.

The Raanans, 59-year-old Judith, a native of Israel, and her 17-year-old daughter, who recently graduated from high school in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois, were taken to a military base in the center of the country. , where their relatives were waiting for them, the Israeli prime minister’s office said.

Judith Tai and Natalie Shoshana Raanan were released and transferred to the border with Israel via the Red Cross. (Photo taken from X of the official account of the State of Israel)

This is the first release of hostages confirmed by both sides, and the spokesman for Hamas’ military wing said in a statement that their release was decided “on humanitarian grounds, following mediation by Qatar.”

“We will continue our dialogue with the Israelis and Hamas and hope that these efforts will lead to the release of all civilian hostages of all nationalities, with the ultimate goal of defusing the current crisis and restoring peace,” the spokesperson said. the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Foreign Affairs, Majid Al Ansari.

According to Hamas’s military spokesman, the release of the two hostages is also intended to “demonstrate to the American people and the entire world that the allegations of [Joe] Biden and his fascist government [sobre Hamás] “they lack a foundation.”

Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari responded that while “Hamas claims to the world that it released the hostages for humanitarian reasons,” it is “a terrorist organization that detains babies, children and the elderly.”

Victims of the conflict

Nearly 200 hostages were captured and taken to the Palestinian enclave during Hamas’ land, sea and air offensive against Israel, which left more than 1,400 dead.

Israel responded with a barrage of bombings on the Gaza Strip, killing at least 4,137. including more than 1,500 children, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

It was confirmed on Friday that at least 32 US citizens have been killed this month in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, while 10 remain missing, according to the US State Department.

Other countries where civilians are being held in Gaza are Argentina, Germany, France, Thailand and Portugal. (JO)