2023-10-21 00:13:26
Israeli authorities confirmed this Friday, October 20, that Hamas freed two American hostages from the more than 200 people captured by the Palestinian Islamist movement during its October 7 offensive once morest Israel, which has since bombed the Gaza Strip.
The release of the hostages, identified by the Israeli government as Judith Tai Raanan And your daughter Natalie Shoshana Raanan17 years old, represents a “ray of hope” for the families of people still held in Gaza, said the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The women, captured in the Nahal Oz kibbutz, are already in Israeli territory, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet said, following Hamas announced in a statement that it had released them. “for humanitarian reasons, following mediation by Qatar.”
‘Most’ of Gaza hostages ‘are alive’, Israeli military says
Judith and Natalie had traveled from their home in Chicago to Israel to celebrate the Jewish holidays, according to their family. On the day of Simchat Torah, a Jewish holiday, Hamas fighters stormed into southern Israeli cities and took them hostage.
Since October 7, his family has not heard from him, and then American and Israeli authorities told them that both were detained in Gaza, Natalie’s brother Ben said, as reported by the AP.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Gulf state that houses the political bureau of the Islamist group, Majid Al Ansari, said that the release came “following several days of continuous communication between all parties involved.” “We hope that these efforts will lead to the release of all civilian hostages of all nationalities,” he said.
This is the first hostage release confirmed by both sides. Hamas assured that it is working “with all the mediators involved to implement the movement’s decision to close the case of [los rehenes] civilians if appropriate security conditions permit.
The Israeli army stated a few hours earlier that most of the hostages were still alive and that more than 20 were minors.
US President Joe Biden said: “Our compatriots have lived through a terrible experience these last 14 days and I am very happy that they will soon be reunited with their families.”
Two weeks following the start of the war, the UN said that the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza is imminent
Gaza awaits “life or death” help to survive
The Palestinian enclave has been waiting for the arrival of humanitarian aid for a few days, which is currently accumulating at the Rafah crossing, on the border with Egypt.
Biden announced on Wednesday, October 18, an agreement with the Arab country to allow a first convoy of up to 20 trucks loaded with medicine, food and water.
The president announced that the first trucks will arrive “in the next 24 to 48 hours” to the 362 km2 territory, which is in a “more than catastrophic” situation, according to the United Nations.
The Secretary General of the UNAntónio Guterres, He said from Egypt that this help is urgently needed: “These trucks are not just trucks, they are lifesavers, they make a life or death difference for so many people in Gaza.”
At least 4,137 people were killed in the Palestinian Strip by Israeli bombings launched daily in response to the deadly Hamas offensive, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The incursion by Islamist militants also left more than 1,400 dead, most of them civilians, the army said. Israel has since vowed to “annihilate” the Islamist group and maintains tens of thousands of soldiers facing the enclave in view of a possible ground invasion.
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