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Post by Admin on Oct 20, 2023 19:04:00 GMT
A senior Israeli official speaking to The Times of Israel identifies the two hostages released by Hamas as Judith Raanan and her daughter Natalie. The pair, who both have American citizenship, have been transferred to the International Red Cross ahead of their arrival in Israel, the official says. The two are residents of Evanston, Illinois outside of Chicago and came to Israel this month to celebrate a relative’s 85th birthday and the Jewish holiday season, according to their rabbi. The Raanan family had been celebrating Simchat Torah in Nahal Oz, a kibbutz in Israel about a mile from the Gaza border when the Hamas onslaught began. Natalie Raanan, 18, recently graduated from high school and was looking forward to taking a break and visiting family overseas, her uncle, Avi Zamir, said at a community event for the Raanans in Evanston last week.
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Post by Admin on Oct 20, 2023 22:38:42 GMT
[Cairo/Jerusalem/Gaza/Washington/Paris (Reuters) - Abu Ubaydah, a spokesman for the military wing of Hamas, the Islamic organization that effectively controls the Palestinian autonomous region of Gaza, said on the 20th that Hamas was responding to Qatar's mediation efforts for ''humanitarian reasons.'' It was announced that two hostages, an American woman and her daughter, had been released.
Ubaydah said he released the hostages "for humanitarian reasons, in addition to proving to the American people and the world that the claims of Mr. Biden and his authoritarian regime are false and baseless."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that the two women were handed over to the Israeli military near the border with the Gaza Strip and were "on their way to a military base in Israel where their families will be waiting."
Secretary of State Blinken said a team from the US embassy in Israel is expected to meet with the two women soon.
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Post by Admin on Oct 22, 2023 14:26:30 GMT
JERUSALEM (Kyodo) - The Israeli military announced on the 21st that it will intensify its attacks on Hamas strongholds in the northern part of the Palestinian autonomous region of Gaza. Middle Eastern satellite television reported that more than 50 people were killed in a series of military airstrikes in Gaza between the 21st and 22nd. On the 22nd, the military announced that it had carried out an airstrike on the underground facilities of a mosque (Islamic place of worship) associated with Hamas in the West Bank. The first humanitarian supplies arrived in Gaza on the 21st. There is a possibility that a second batch will be brought in soon. The total number of deaths on both sides exceeded 6,000 on the 22nd.
[Photo] American mother and daughter return to Israel after being released by Hamas
On the 21st, Hamas announced on a communication app that it informed Qatar, the intermediary, that it would release the two female hostages on humanitarian grounds, but the Israeli government refused to accept the release. He claimed to be ready to release them on the 22nd using the same procedure as the two Americans on the 20th. The Israeli Prime Minister's Office called it ''false propaganda'' and refused to get involved.
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Post by Admin on Oct 23, 2023 21:31:36 GMT
On the 23rd, Hamas, an Islamic group based in the Gaza Strip, an autonomous region of Palestine that continues to fight with Israel, announced that it had released two more hostages. It explained that it was for "humanitarian reasons."
[Photo summary] Woman believed to have been kidnapped by Hamas
According to Hamas' statements and other sources, the people said to have been released appear to be two Israeli women. The negotiations were reportedly mediated by Egypt and Qatar.
Regarding the release of these two people, Hamas claimed on the 21st that ``Israel has refused.'' Israel denied this, saying it was Hamas propaganda.
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Post by Admin on Oct 24, 2023 15:33:07 GMT
[Jerusalem Kyodo] Yohebet Lifshitz (85), an Israeli who was held hostage by the Palestinian Islamic organization Hamas and was released, gave a press conference on the 24th at a hospital in Tel Aviv, central Israel. He was taken to an underground tunnel in Gaza, an autonomous region of Palestine under the effective control of Hamas, and said, ''I went through hell.'' The tunnel "looked like a spider's web," he said.
[Photo] American hostage mother and daughter released by Hamas travel to Israel for a relative's birthday
On the 7th, Mr. Lifshitz was attacked and abducted by Hamas fighters while living in Niluoz, southern Israel. He was released on the 23rd along with Nurit Cooper, 79. He is undergoing tests at a hospital in Tel Aviv to check for any health problems.
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