Hamas releases American mother, daughter hostages; Biden says efforts to secure others are ongoing

President Biden said Friday that the U.S. has secured the release of two Americans taken hostage by Hamas during its terrorist attack against Israel on Oct. 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,” the president said in a statement. 

“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.”

Biden said Qatar and Israel secured the release of the Americans. While he did not name them, the Israeli government confirmed them as Judith Raanan and her daughter, 18-year-old Natalie Raanan.

There are 10 Americans who remain unaccounted for after Hamas’s initial attack, while the terror group is believed to be holding 200 people hostage.

Biden said U.S. officials “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.” 

“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.”

Israel had previously said that the hostages were in its custody.

“The person in charge of the abductees and the missing, Brigadier General Gal Hirsch, together with the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] and the security forces, received them at the border of the Gaza Strip and at this moment they are 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,” a spokesperson for the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.

“The Government of Israel, the IDF and the entire security establishment will continue to operate with the best of their abilities and efforts in order to locate all of the missing and return all of the abductees home,” according to the statement.

The mother and daughter’s release comes as aid trucks bound for Gaza are loitering on the Egyptian side of the Strip.

Biden spoke with Netanyahu in a phone call on Friday, where they discussed ongoing efforts to release hostages taken by Hamas, according to a readout of the call provided by the White House.

He also spoke with Netanyahu about “plans to begin moving humanitarian assistance into Gaza from Egypt” and to allow U.S. citizens in Gaza and other civilians to exit the enclave.

“The President reaffirmed the United States’ support for Israel’s right to defend itself and obligation to protect its citizens, while underscoring the importance of operating consistent with the law of war to include the protection of civilians in Gaza caught in the conflict launched by Hamas,” the White House said.

Netanyahu had previously said that no aid can enter Gaza until Hamas releases hostages, though Biden had said he had secured a commitment from both Israel and Egypt to allow aid to begin flowing. 

Biden said Friday that at least 20 aid trucks are expected to cross Gaza’s border with Egypt in the next 24-48 hours.

“I believe you will see … I got a commitment from the Israelis and the president of Egypt that the crossing will be open,” he said in remarks from the Oval Office.

Rabbi Meir Hecht told ABC-7 Chicago earlier this week that Judith and her daughter Natalie, who turned 18 over the past week, had traveled to Israel for a relative’s 85th birthday and to celebrate the Jewish holiday season.

Ben Raanan told ABC-7 that after losing contact with his mother and sister in the wake of Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7, Biden had reached out and spoke with the family at length. 

Israel said that Hamas is holding at least 203 hostages in the Gaza Strip who were kidnapped while the terrorist organization carried out its initial attack that combined a mass of rocket barrages with a ground infiltration and massacre, with an estimated 1,400 people killed.

The Biden administration has said that more than a dozen Americans remain unaccounted for but has not confirmed that they are being held hostage by Hamas.

American families in Israel have spoken out, saying they believe their loved ones are being held by the terrorist organization.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday called for the immediate and unconditional release of all Hamas’s hostages, speaking from the podium of the State Department.

He said he couldn’t speak to the condition of the two Americans released out of respect for their privacy and because U.S. officials were working to make contact with them, to evaluate them and to reunite them with their loved ones. 

Blinken said he did not have further information on the condition of Americans who continue to be held by Hamas and couldn’t speak to the details of the ongoing efforts to secure their release.

“And all I can say with regard to Qatar is, in this instance, we very much appreciate their assistance,” he said.

Hamas has released videos of hostages, including of an Israeli woman named Mia Schem, who said her hand was injured in Hamas’s initial attack and underwent surgery in the Gaza Strip, demonstrating that the terrorist group was taking care of her even as she asked to be released back to her family.

Hamas has said it seeks to use hostages as bargaining chips to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, and it has said that it is treating the hostages as “esteemed guests.”

—Updated at 4:31 p.m.