Hamas releases first hostages | Israel-Palestine conflict

Footage released on Friday by Hamas’ armed wing, al-Qassam Brigade, shows two American hostages being freed and handed over to the Red Cross. The US citizens were identified as Chicago-area residents Judith Tai Raanan and her teenage daughter Natalie Shoshana Raanan, who Israel said were being reunited with family on an Israeli military base. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the mother and daughter were abducted by Iranian-backed Islamist militants of Hamas from Kibbutz Nahal Oz, where they were staying during the surprise assault on southern Israel from Gaza on 7 October. Judith Raanan, 59, and her daughter Natalie, 17, had been visiting the kibbutz about a mile from the Gaza border as part of a trip to Israel that began in September to celebrate the Jewish holidays and the 85th birthday of Judith’s mother, US news media outlets reported, citing relatives as their sources. The pair were handed over to Israeli forces at the border of the Gaza Strip and were &q