Two American-Israeli hostages, Judith (Yehudit) Tai Raanan and Natalie Shoshana Raanan, who were held by Hamas since Saturday, October 7, were handed over to the Red Cross and arrived in Israel late Friday, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed.
They were released on “humanitarian grounds,” a source familiar with the negotiations said.
The mother and daughter were met at the border by Coordinator for the Captives and Missing Brig.-Gen. (Ret.) Gal Hirsch along with IDF and security forces. They then made their way to a meeting point at a military base in central Israel, where their family members were waiting for them.
“The State of Israel, the IDF, and the entire security establishment will continue to work with all available resources and efforts to locate all the missing individuals and bring all the captives back home,” the PMO said in a statement.
Two of the hostages, mother and daughter Yehudit Tai and Natali Shoshana Raanan were released by the Hamas terror organization and were transferred to the Israeli border via the Red Cross.They are on their way to an army base in central Israel were their families are anxiously… pic.twitter.com/S4WZKUlE2h
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) October 20, 2023
Hamas put out a statement on its Telegram channel ahead of the release:
“In response to Qatari efforts, Al-Qassam Brigades released two American citizens (a mother and her daughter) 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,” Hamas wrote.
US President Joe Biden celebrated the release of the hostages and thanked Qatar and Israel for their partnership after Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said that the release came as a result of “many days” of its mediation.
“Qatar hopes dialog will lead to the release of all civilian hostages from every nationality,” the ministry said.
An Israeli source told KAN News that the release of the captives is intended to pressure Israel to delay its ground entry into Gaza.
Natalie, 17, just graduated from high school, according to her aunt Saray Cohen. She was spending a gap year in Israel. Yehudit is an artist and a volunteer in several hospitals in the Chicago area. They were in Israel together to celebrate the 85th birthday of Yehudit’s mother.
Rabbi Dov Hillel Klein, executive director of Chabad of Evanston, has known Yehudit for more than 10 years. He told The Jerusalem Post that Yehudit “is the type of person who lights up a room when she walks in. She is always helpful, caring. She is very spiritual.”
He said that the community had been praying and holding vigils for the Raanan’s since their capture.
More than 200 still in captivity
“We are so happy that they are being released and will eventually get back to Evanston safely,” Klein said. “But it is bittersweet because we know there are more than 200 other hostages. We will continue to pray and do whatever we can do to bring them all home.”
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum headquarters responded to the announcement with a similar statement.
“The continued holding of hostages is a war crime,” a statement by the headquarters said. “Many leaders in Arab states have tremendous influence over its leaders and must act to immediately release all the hostages and missing held in Gaza. We call on world leaders and the international community to exert their full power in order to act for the release of all the hostages and missing.”
The Families of American-Israeli Hostages in Gaza thanked President Joe Biden for “following through on his promise of working to free US citizens being held hostage by the terrorist organization Hamas and securing the release of Judith and Natalie Raanan.” The group said there are still a significant number of American citizens, including some who are critically wounded, being held in Gaza.
“We call on the President Biden, the US congress, as well as the Israeli government to continue to do all they can to ensure that all hostages are released immediately from Hamas captivity,” the statement read.
Families approach Red Cross in Geneva
On Friday morning, several families of those taken hostage traveled to Geneva to lobby for their loved ones’ release. They met with Mirjana Spoljaric, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The Red Cross had offered to visit and help the hostages in any way and work towards their release.
Spoljaric said in a statement on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Friday night that “as a neutral actor, the ICRC’s role was to transport the hostages from Gaza to Israel.”
The release of the two hostages today is a sliver of hope.⁰Remaining hostages must be immediately released. We are ready to help.⁰We urgently call for a pause in the fighting in Gaza. People cannot be kept waiting for desperately needed aid. pic.twitter.com/8sIqlb5XAq
— Mirjana Spoljaric (@ICRCPresident) October 20, 2023
While she said that the organization would continue to call for the release of the hostages and be ready to help them in any way, Spoljaric also called for “a pause in the fighting in Gaza where the situation is nothing short of desperate.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
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