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In a statement released on October 20, the Hamas Islamist movement said that in response to Qatar’s efforts, it had released two American hostages for “humanitarian reasons.” This is the first time Hamas has released hostages since the conflict broke out nearly two weeks ago.
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| Two hostages Natalie Raanan (2nd left) and Judith Raanan (2nd right) were released by Hamas on October 20, 2023. Photo: AFP/TTXVN |
After releasing the hostages, Hamas also announced that it was working with representatives of Qatar and Egypt to release the civilian hostages.
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office confirmed that Hamas released two hostages, Judith Raanan and Natalie Raanan, on the same evening. The statement from the Prime Minister's Office added that Israel received the two hostages in the area bordering Gaza and took them to a military base to meet their families.
In a statement, US President Joe Biden also affirmed that the US government had secured the release of two American hostages, and expressed gratitude to the Qatari and Israeli governments for their coordination and work in this regard.
The health status of Judith Raanan and Natalie Raanan is currently unknown. However, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross Mirjana Spoljaric said that Hamas' release of the two women brings hope to the families of other hostages held in the Gaza Strip.
Tensions between Israel and Hamas flared up on October 7 with retaliatory attacks between the two sides and then escalated to border tensions between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. After 14 days of conflict, a total of more than 5,000 people were killed on both sides and many people fell into an urgent humanitarian crisis.
The Israeli military (IDF) announced on October 20 that most of the approximately 200 hostages taken by Hamas and taken to the Gaza Strip are still alive. According to the IDF, more than 20 of the hostages are children and about 10-20 are over 60 years old. In addition, about 100-200 people are considered missing since the conflict broke out.
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