Hamas releases two American hostages to Israel
A photo of Natalie and Judith Raanan appearing on social media.
(JTA) — Hamas has released two American hostages, Judith and Natalie Raanan of Evanston, Illinois, whom it was holding in the Gaza Strip.
Both the U.S. and Israeli governments have confirmed their release and the Israeli government distributed a photo of the pair on either side of Gal Hersh, an Israeli hostage negotiator, who holds their hands. Later, the U.S. embassy circulated a photo of the two women — Natalie in a gray zip hoodie and jeans, her mother in a long royal blue sweater, smiling as they spoke via cell phone to President Joe Biden.
The Ranaans were among more than 200 hostages the terrorist group captured in its Oct. 7 invasion.
“I feel very, very good,” Natalie’s father and Judith’s ex-husband, Uri Raanan, told the Chicago Tribune Friday afternoon. “I’m going to sleep tonight. I spoke with my daughter, she’s feeling good, she looks good.”
Judith, 59, and Natalie, 17, a recent graduate of Deerfield High School, near Evanston, traveled to Israel in early September to celebrate the Jewish holidays and a relative’s birthday.
They were visiting Natalie’s grandmother at Nahal Or kibbutz, very close to the Gaza Strip, when Hamas attacked. Uri Ranaan was the last one to hear from them. He told ABC7 in Chicago that Natalie called him that morning to say that she was hiding in a bunker. A neighbor later reported seeing her and her mother being taken away by Hamas militants. The Israeli government had reached out to the family in the days after they were taken hostage to confirm that they were still alive.
Active in their Chabad synagogue
Judith Tai Raanan was born in Israel, moved to Evanston 30 years ago and is an active members of Evanston Chabad, outside Chicago, according to Chabad and the community’s rabbi, Meir Hecht. “They’d been planning this trip for a long time,” Hecht said. “It was a special trip for the holiday season, for Rosh Hashanah through the end of Sukkot, and they’d been sending us messages and emails, and it seemed like they were having a really special time until we heard the worst news.”
A Hamas spokesman told reporters on a Telegram channel that it had “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.”
President Joe Biden has backed Israel in its war against Hamas since the terrorist group invaded Israel, killing 1,400 people, most of them civilians, wounding thousands and kidnapping more than 20o. Israel declared war on Hamas following the invasion.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org. The Forward’s Beth Harpaz and other sources as noted contributed to this report.
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