Israel
BREAKING: Hamas releases 2 U.S. hostages held in Gaza, mother and daughter from IL
Judith Tai Raanan and Natalie Shoshana Raanan, a mother and daughter from Chicago who were taken as hostages by Hamas during the October 7th raid on Israel have been released “following mediation with the Qatari government” reports National Review.
Natalie had just graduated from Deerfield High School in Chicago, and she and her mother were visiting Israeli family who lived in kibbutz Nahal Oz by the Gaza border for her grandmother’s 85th birthday.
Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, released a statement saying the two had been released for “humanitarian reasons, and to prove to the American people and the world that the claims made by (President Joe) Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless.”
On Thursday, former NBC News foreign correspondent Martin Fletcher told MSNBC in a TV interview that he found out that “Natalie and Judith Raanan,” members of his wife’s family, had been abducted by Hamas. Some outlets wonder if the interview contributed to their release.
“They’re from Evanston, Illinois,” he said. “They’re Americans. They were visiting her grandmother for her 85th birthday. They were last seen, their hands tied, being dragged away by the Hamas terrorists. It’s personal. It’s real. Nobody is really confident that we’ll be able to get them back alive. Of course, everybody’s hoping the United States is doing everything they can” he said in his interview.
The first image of the two hostages have been released and the Israeli Defense Force confirmed they are now safe in Israel and on their way to be united with their families.
First image: Natalie and Judith are in Israel.
201 are still held by Hamas in Gaza pic.twitter.com/umM14igBtV
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) October 20, 2023
Following the release of a Hamas propaganda video with footage of Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander, 20, alive after over 420 days in captivity, as well as the IDF having confirmed the death of American-Israeli Captain Omer Neutra who was abducted during the October 7th attack, Trump is not mincing words.
United States President-elect Donald Trump declared Monday that there will be “hell to pay” if the hostages held by Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists in Gaza are not freed before his inauguration on January 20. The message marked the first time since November’s election that the former chief executive commented on the situation facing captured Israeli citizens in the coastal enclave, reports Foreign Desk News.
Writing on his Truth Social account, the former president warned the captors, “Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity. Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!”
During the October 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel, the invaders kidnapped 251 individuals after killing almost 1,200 civilians and responding security forces.
Following negotiations and rescue operations led by the Israeli military over the past year, authorities in Jerusalem estimate about 60 of the 95 remaining abductees are still alive, adds FDN.
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