Hamas frees U.S. hostages Judith and Natalie Raanan held in Gaza

GAZA/JERUSALEM, Oct 20 (Reuters) – The Islamist group Hamas released two U.S. hostages, mother and daughter Judith and Natalie Raanan, who were kidnapped in its attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Friday.

The women, who were taken from Nahal Oz kibbutz, near the Gaza border, were on their way to a military base in central Israel, a statement from Netanyahu’s office said.

Media reports in the United States said they were from Evanston, an Illinois suburb of Chicago.

They were the first hostages to be freed since Hamas gunmen burst into Israel nearly two weeks ago, killing 1,400 people, mainly civilians, and taking around 200 hostages.

Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, said the hostages were released in response to Qatari mediation efforts, “for humanitarian reasons, and to prove to the American people and the world that the claims made by Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless”.

A source briefed on the negotiations to release hostages being held by Hamas said the release of the two Americans was “a first step and discussions are ongoing for more releases.”

A team from the U.S. Embassy in Israel will shortly see the two Americans who were freed, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

He said there are still 10 Americans who remain unaccounted for after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

“We know that some of them are being held hostage by Hamas,” Blinken told a briefing for reporters.

President Joe Biden in a statement thanked Qatar and Israel for their partnership in securing the pair’s release.

A Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson said the release of the hostages took place “after many days of continuous communication” and dialogue on the release of hostages would continue.

The International Committee of the Red Cross says it helped facilitate the hostages’ release by transporting them from Gaza to Israel.

Israel’s Kan public broadcaster reported the two women were dual Israeli-American nationals.

Hamas has previously described captives with “foreign” nationalities as guests who would be released, without saying if this includes Israelis with dual nationality.

An Israeli army statement earlier in the day said a majority of the hostages were alive.

Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas, which rules Gaza, relentlessly pounding the strip with air strikes, putting the enclave’s 2.3 million people under a total siege and banning shipments of food, fuel and medical supplies.

The secretary-general of the United Nations visited the crossing between the besieged Gaza Strip and Egypt on Friday, and said humanitarian aid must be allowed across as soon as possible.

At least 4,137 Palestinians have been killed, including hundreds of children, and 13,000 wounded in Gaza, the Palestinian health ministry said. The U.N. says more than a million have been made homeless.

U.S. troops have come under increasing attacks in Syria and Iraq since Oct. 7, raising concerns about a possible escalation.

A U.S. official told Reuters that a U.S. Navy warship intercepted four missiles and more than a dozen drones on Thursday near Yemen fired from Iran-aligned Houthis in the direction of Israel, more than the number announced previously.

CHURCH HIT

Israel has amassed tanks and troops near the perimeter of Gaza for an expected ground invasion.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said that achieving Israel’s objectives would not be quick or easy.

“We will topple the Hamas organisation. We will destroy its military and governing infrastructure. It’s a phase that will not be easy. It will have a price,” he told a parliamentary committee.

He added that the subsequent phase would be more drawn out, but was aimed at achieving “a completely different security situation” with no threat to Israel from Gaza. “It’s not a day, it’s not a week, and unfortunately it’s not a month,” he said.

The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the main Palestinian Christian denomination, said that overnight Israeli forces had struck the Church of Saint Porphyrius in Gaza City, where hundreds of Christians and Muslims had sought sanctuary.

It said targeting churches that were used as shelters for people fleeing bombing was “a war crime that cannot be ignored”.

Video from the scene showed a wounded boy being…