The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) sees this as a first “ray of hope” for all the hostages held in the Gaza Strip: two American women kidnapped on October 7 during the Hamas assault on Israeli soil have were released on Friday October 20 by the Palestinian Islamist movement.
Judith Ranaan, 59, and her 17-year-old daughter, Natalie Ranaan, were brought back to the border and have arrived in Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in the evening. Hamas, for its part, published a video in which we can see the two hostages released and taken care of by ICRC staff.
Judith and Natalie Ranaan, who are dual Israeli-American citizens and live in suburban Chicago, Illinois, were traveling to Israel to celebrate Judith’s mother’s birthday and Jewish holidays, members of the group said. their family. They were in Nahal Oz, near the Gaza border, on October 7 when Hamas militants stormed into towns across Israel, killing hundreds and kidnapping others. Their family had not heard from them since the attack, but was later informed by U.S. and Israeli officials that they were being held in Gaza, Natalie’s brother Ranaan said.
” She is fine. She’s doing great,” said Uri Raanan, Natalie’s father, after speaking with his daughter on the phone. Knowing she might be able to celebrate her 18th birthday next week at home with family and friends is “the best news,” he added, relieved.
The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, explained their release, obtained after “mediation from Qatar” – a country to which the movement is known to be close –, for “humanitarian reasons and to prove to the American people and the world that the claims of Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless.”
Joe Biden “overjoyed”
This is the first communication of a release of hostages since the start of the war from Hamas, which said in a statement “working with all mediators involved to implement the movement’s decision to end the file of civilian [hostages] when security circumstances permit.”
Hamas kidnapped 203 people, including nationals from more than twenty countries, according to Israel. “Hamas claims to the world that it has released these women it had taken hostage for humanitarian reasons, even though it is a murderous terrorist organization that is currently detaining infants, children, women and elderly people,” responded the Israeli army.
When the release of the two Americans was announced, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, who spoke with them by telephone, said he was “overjoyed”. He thanked Qatar and Israel for their “partnership” in the operation, with his secretary of state, Antony Blinken, stressing that all hostages “must be released immediately and unconditionally” during a press conference.
“We will continue our dialogue with the Israelis and Hamas”, for “the release of all civilian hostages (…) with the aim of defusing the current crisis and restoring peace”, commented, from Doha, the spokesperson for Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Majid Al-Ansari.
Emmanuel Macron welcomed the release of the two American hostages. “This is a very good result obtained by the negotiators in which Qatar played a very important role,” the French president said in an interview with journalists. “Our desire is that we can continue in the hours and days to come operations of this type allowing [other people], in particular our hostages, to get out,” he added, specifying that seven French people are missing in Israel.
Seven French people missing, but only one hostage confirmed
“Young Mia Shem is the only one whose hostage status is confirmed,” noted the president, referring to the Franco-Israeli woman whose video was released Monday by Hamas. “For the other six there is a presumption of hostage-taking but without certainty,” he added, referring to “elements cross-referenced with the Israeli services and authorities.”
The head of state said he was “confident” in the channels used “through Qatar” to obtain their release. “These discussions keep us hopeful that we can find solutions to get as many hostages out as possible,” he insisted. He nevertheless said he was “worried for several of them because the toll of French victims has continued to grow in recent days.” There are now thirty deaths after the announcement on Friday of two new victims by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Emmanuel Macron said that he did not rule out a trip to the Middle East “in the coming days, the very next weeks”, if he managed to “obtain useful things” thanks to this trip. This trip “will depend on the discussions that I will have in the coming hours, the coming days with all the leaders of the region,” said the French president.