The spokesman for the Al Qasam Brigades, Abu Obeida, announced this Friday the release of two American hostages for “humanitarian reasons”, after mediation by Qatar. Abu Obeida, whose group is the armed wing of Hamas, said on his Telegram account that the two abductees are mother and daughter.
He stated that they have adopted this gesture to “demonstrate to the American people and the world that the claims made by Biden and his fascist Administration are false and unfounded.”
A Hamas source told EFE that the hostages are Judith and Natalie Raanan, from Evanston, on the outskirts of Chicago (USA). Both, aged 59 and 18 respectively, were kidnapped when they were in Kibbutz Nahal Oz. With dual nationality, they had traveled to that kibbutz to celebrate the Jewish holidays and the 85th birthday of Judith’s mother.
He explained that they have coordinated with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for the delivery of the two hostages to the organization and that they have ensured that both have reached Israeli soil. “On our part, it is a clear humanitarian step to demonstrate that our conflict is only with Israel,” she noted.
The announcement of the release of these two women comes two days after Biden visited Israel to demonstrate his country’s “unwavering” support and defend the right of Israelis to defend themselves. In addition, she compared Hamas to the terrorist group Islamic State (IS) and assured that the “atrocities” committed by the Palestinian organization make “Daesh” seem more rational.
Biden also backed Israel’s thesis about Tuesday’s explosion at a Gaza hospital, which points to a failed Islamic Jihad rocket as the cause.
The exact number of hostages with US passports held by Islamists in Gaza is unknown. There are currently 13 Americans missing and thirty dead after the surprise attack by Hamas on October 7 against Israel, which left more than 1,400 dead on Israeli soil.
The Palestinian group also kidnapped 250 hostages – 200 that it says are in its hands and 50 in the hands of other Palestinian militias – although the Israeli Army has reduced that number to 203.
