JUST IN: Hamas Confirmed to Have Released Two American Hostages Abducted During Horrific Attack on Israel
Hamas released two American hostages on Friday that the group took during its devastating attack in the south of Israel in which 1,400 were killed, mostly civilians who were shot, raped, and tortured to death.
Fox News confirmed the hostage release as did Israel’s Channel 13 News and Kan public broadcaster.
Fox’s Trey Yingst reported from Israel, “They were dragged into the Gaza Strip and held for nearly two weeks, but international efforts have been underway since then, trying to free as many people as possible. We have to be careful with our attribution here and the sourcing behind this, but we have been able to confirm by a source outside of Hamas that this deal did go through and two American hostages have been released into Egypt.”
Anchor John Roberts asked, “There are still 201 hostages at least being held. What about the fate of the others?”
“Yeah, absolutely. The Qataris have been working behind the scenes on a variety of issues, from humanitarian aid to hostage release. I don’t want to get too deep into the specifics of this release, but I can tell you that we can confirm there are still 201 hostages inside Gaza, possibly more,” Yingst replied, adding:
A top military officials saying there are between 102 hundred people still missing from southern Israel. Some of those bodies may never be recovered. There still could be some people who are alive, but in Gaza just not yet accounted for.
And that’s part of why the Israelis are making this calculation. I’m told, though, by my producer just now, we checked with the Israelis, following our independent confirmation of the hostage release tonight from Gaza, two American citizens. The families have not yet been notified, which is why we do not have the names.
UPDATE: In a subsequent report, Fox News noted that the families of the hostages had been notified of their release and reported their names to be Judith and Natalie Raanan — who are mother and daughter.
President Joe Biden also released a statement and vowed to continue to work to release all the hostage, saying:
Today, we have secured the release of two Americans taken hostage by Hamas during the horrific terrorist assault against Israel on October 7. Our fellow citizens have endured a terrible ordeal these past 14 days, and I am overjoyed that they will soon be reunited with their family, who has been wracked with fear. These individuals and their family will have the full support of the United States government as they recover and heal, and we should all respect their privacy in this moment.
From the earliest moments of this attack, we have been working around-the-clock to free American citizens who were taken hostage by Hamas, and we have not ceased our efforts to secure the release of those who are still being held. I thank the government of Qatar and the government of Israel for their partnership in this work. Jill and I have been holding close in our hearts all the families of unaccounted for Americans. And, as I told those families when I spoke with them last week—we will not stop until we get their loved ones home. As president, I have no higher priority than the safety of Americans held hostage around the world.
Watch above via Fox News.
