The U.S. State Department confirmed Friday that the Hamas terror organization had released two hostages from Illinois after officials from Qatar intervened on their behalf.
The hostages were identified as Judith Tai Raanan and her daughter Natalie Shoshana Raanan from Evanston, a suburb of Chicago.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the two were handed over to Israeli forces at the border with the Gaza Strip. He added that they were “on their way to a meeting point at a military base in the center of the country, where their family members are waiting for them.”
Hamas has claimed to have taken about 200 hostages from Israel during its terror attack on Oct. 8. U.S. officials said at least 10 of those hostages were from the U.S. Another 10 Americans are missing and could be among the hostages.
Abu Ubaida, a spokesperson for the Hamas’ Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, derided President Joe Biden and his administration in a statement claiming they had released the two hostages for “humanitarian” reasons.
He added that Hamas released the two in order to “prove to the American people and the world that the claims made by Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless.”
Ubaida confirmed that Qatari officials helped secure the release of the hostages.
Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Majid Al-Ansari said in a statement that they would “continue dialogue with Israel and Hamas in hope of releasing all civilian hostages from every nationality.”
The mother and daughter were visiting family in Israel and had attended a party near the border to celebrate a relative’s 88th birthday when they were abducted.
The terror attack on Israel cost more than 1,400 lives, according to official estimates.
Here’s more about the release of US hostages:
Illinois mom, daughter taken hostage by Hamas released | NewsNation Nowwww.youtube.com
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!