Hours after the Israel Defense Forces said 20 of the 200 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza are children and that most of the hostages are alive, the militant group announced the release of two Americans.
In a statement posted on Telegram late on Friday, Hamas armed wing spokesman Abu Ubaida said: “In response to Qatari efforts, (Ezzedine) al-Qassam Brigades released two American citizens (a mother and her daughter) for humanitarian reasons.”
There has been no official confirmation from either Israel or the US. The Times of Israel identified the two hostages as Judith and her teenage daughter Natalie Raanan, adding they had been released in Egypt and handed over to the Red Cross ahead of their expected arrival in Israel.
Their release is significant as it comes amid intense bombardment on Gaza by Israel. The relentless air raids on Friday levelled a northern Gaza district, whose residents got a half-an-hour notice to escape the bombing.
Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry said 16 Palestinian Christians were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a Greek Orthodox church housing displaced Palestinians. But the Israeli military claimed only the church’s wall was damaged, adding that its target was a nearby building.
While there is no clarity on when Israeli soldiers will set foot in Gaza, Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant clarified on Friday that his country has no plan to take control of the Strip after destroying the Hamas terror network. Israel’s long-term objective is to end its responsibility over the Palestinian enclave, he said.
Fuelling worries of the limited war escalating into a larger West Asia conflict, the US military on Friday took down multiple missiles launched by Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen. US Navy’s guided missile destroyer USS Carney, operating in the northern Red Sea, intercepted three land missiles and several drones “potentially headed toward targets in Israel”
The situation in the besieged Gaza has turned extremely grim, with reports saying civilians are down to one meal a day and no water. On Friday, United Nations Secretary General António Guterre visited the Rafah border and made a passionate appeal for allowing humanitarian aid to Gaza, terming it a matter of life and death for two million people trapped there