NBC News Bureau Chief Reveals Two Americans Released By Hamas Are Wife’s Relatives

Martin Fletcher, the Tel Aviv Bureau chief for NBC News, revealed that the two American hostages released by Hamas are his relatives.

On Friday, President Joe Biden announced that two hostages, Natalie Raanan and Judith Raanan, were released by Hamas, citing “humanitarian reasons.” Hamas and Israel are currently engaging in a war after the militant group attacked the country earlier this month.

Fletcher noted that the two are related to his wife, who is from Evanston, Illinois, and noted that the FBI has been in contact with his family members.

“It was pretty shocking. I only found out yesterday that two of my wife’s family are indeed among the hostages,” Fletcher told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Friday. “They were visiting family on a kibbutz in southern Israel when the attack happened. And they were last seen, Natalie and Judith, dragged away with their hands tied by the Hamas terrorists into Gaza.”

The Raanans are believed to have been among about 200 hostages that U.S. intelligence says are currently in captivity by Hamas.

Mitchell then asked Fletcher how the State Department and president have treated his family members since they were freed. He replied:

I think all of the hostage families looking at what President Biden said with great respect and gratitude. I know that the FBI, for instance, has contacted my family. They’ve contacted probably by now all of the families. I assume the FBI is on the ground. They’re helping the the Israelis in terms of intelligence. I don’t know what good it really is going to do in the long run, but it’s certainly reassuring to my family and to other families that they’re being taken very seriously. And I think the message from – I don’t want to keep saying my family, you know, the hostage families – the message is, please keep paying attention to our dilemma, to our situation. Don’t give up on the hostages.

Watch the full clip above via MSNBC.