Hamas frees American hostages

A mother and her daughter were released, according to the extremist organisation, for “humanitarian reasons.”

Two American hostages have been freed by Hamas, according to a spokesman for the Palestinian militant organisation on Friday. The gang said that it released the prisoners to disprove the “fascist” policies of US President Joe Biden’s administration.

Al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of Hamas, “released two American citizens for humanitarian reasons in response to Qatari efforts,” Abu Obaida stated in a statement.

He said, “To prove to the American people and the world that the claims made by Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless.”

Obaida may have been referring to the American president’s statement from Wednesday that the group’s members “have committed atrocities that make ISIS look more rational.” It is unclear which of Biden’s statements Obaida was alluding to.

The two Americans that were freed, according to Obaida, were a mother and her daughter. Although the Red Cross informed the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that it had received the two women as of Friday night, neither American nor Israeli authorities had acknowledged the release.

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Israeli media referred to the women as Judith and Natalie Raanan.

According to Hamas, the number of hostages it is now keeping in Gaza is roughly 200, while 50 more are being held by other militant organisations there and 20 have died as a result of Israeli attacks. Khaled Mashaal, a top-ranking member of Hamas, said earlier this week that Israeli hostages may be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners of war in Israeli jails, while foreign hostages would be freed “when circumstances allow.”

According to US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, more than 20 Americans have been reported missing since Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel almost two weeks ago. Ten of them, according to Republican Senator Jim Risch, are being held captive in Gaza.

If we can find them, we’ll do everything in our power to bring them home, Biden said earlier this week to CBS News. Neither did Biden acknowledge the Qatari government’s role as a mediator nor did he go into more depth about the administration’s efforts to free the prisoners.