Hamas has released two US hostages captured during its devastating assault on Israel almost two weeks ago, amid intense diplomatic efforts to ease tensions in the Middle Eastern conflict and deliver humanitarian aid to suffering civilians.
The women — named by the Israeli prime minister’s office as mother and daughter Judith Tai Raanan and Natalie Shoshana Raanan — were snatched by Hamas militants from the Nahal Oz kibbutz in southern Israel on October 7, in what was the deadliest attack on the country in its 75-year history.
Their release follows a whirlwind visit to Israel by US president Joe Biden this week ahead of a possible ground invasion of Gaza by Israeli troops that is intended to destroy Hamas’s ability to launch terrorist attacks but risks widening the war and further harming civilians.