American teenage hostage freed by Hamas ‘doing very well,’ says her father
The father of released American teenage hostage Natalie Raanan said Friday she is doing well after two weeks in captivity after she and her mother were kidnapped by Hamas in Israel and held in Gaza.
Uri Raanan of Illinois told The Associated Press that he spoke to his daughter by phone Friday. ‘It goes well with her. She is doing very well,” said Uri Raanan, who lives in the Chicago suburbs. “I’m in tears and I feel very, very good.”
Mr. Raanan said he had seen on the news earlier Friday that an American mother and daughter would be released by Hamas, and he spent the day hoping that this meant his daughter and her mother, Judith Raanan.
Knowing that Natalie might be able to celebrate her 18th birthday at home with family and friends next week feels “amazing. The best news,” her father said.
Ben Raanan, Natalie’s brother, said that before her kidnapping, he and his sister had discussed getting matching tattoos to mark her birthday. Instead, he got a tattoo in her honor this week that included their names and their brother’s name.
The family’s text message updates on Friday went from cautious hope to outright celebration, tempered by the realization that other families are still living in fear for their loved ones, Ben Raanan told The Associated Press at his home in Denver.
“When I see her again, I don’t think there will be words to express what’s going on,” he said. “It will just be an intense hug that is bigger than words and bigger than what we could actually communicate. verbal.”
Uri Raanan said he believes Natalie and Judith are in transit to Tel Aviv to reunite with relatives, and both will be back in the US early next week.
An Israeli military spokesman said the two Americans were outside the Gaza Strip and with the Israeli army. Hamas said on Friday it released them on humanitarian grounds, in agreement with the Qatari government.
They were the first hostages released since Hamas militants kidnapped about 200 people during their Oct. 7 rampage, according to Israel.
President Joe Biden was among many celebrating the news that the Raanans had been released.
“I am overjoyed that they will soon be reunited with their families, who are wracked with fear,” Biden said in Washington. The president spoke with Judith and Natalie on Friday and “informed that they will have the full support of the U.S. government as they recover from this terrible ordeal,” the White House said.
Uri Raanan said at a brief news conference later Friday that he spoke with his daughter for only a few emotional minutes and that they did not talk about what she and her mother had experienced over the past two weeks. He said Judith has a minor injury that he described as a “little scratch” on her hand.
“They look good and sound good,” he said, adding that when he sees his daughter, he plans to hug and kiss her. “It will be the best day of my life.”
He also said he did not know why they were singled out for release.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, which transported the freed Americans from Gaza to Israel, said their release offered “a glimmer of hope” for those still held.
Judith and Natalie, who both have dual Israeli-American citizenship, had been to Israel from their home in the Chicago suburb of Evanston to celebrate Judith’s mother’s birthday and the Jewish holidays, relatives said.
Natalie was born in the U.S., moved to Israel with Judith until she was 10 and then returned, her father said.
Natalie “always talked a lot about her house,” said stepsister Frida Alonso, referring to Israel. “She missed it very much. Every day she missed her grandmother, she missed her home. Just the feeling that you are there. So I bet this hurts her a lot.”
Mother and daughter were in Nahal Oz, near the Gaza border, on October 7 when Hamas militants stormed into southern Israeli towns, killing hundreds of people and kidnapping others.
Their family had not heard from them since the attack and were later told by American and Israeli officials that they were being held in Gaza, Natalie’s brother said.
“The news that Judith and Natalie have been released from the hands of Hamas is overwhelming. It brings us enormous gratitude to the Almighty, to God, for this incredible miracle,” Meir Hecht, Judith’s rabbi, said at a news conference outside his home in Evanston on Friday afternoon.
“At the same time, we cherish our pain very deeply,” said Mr Hecht, calling for the release of the other hostages as soon as possible. “We must continue to besiege whoever we can, however we can, and pray for their release.”
Judith came regularly to Mr. Hecht’s congregation and felt “part of our family,” the rabbi said.
Qatar said it would continue dialogue with Israel and Hamas in the hope of securing the release of all hostages “with the ultimate goal of de-escalating the current crisis and restoring peace.”
Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said Israel continues to work to return hostages and find the missing, and that its objectives have not changed. “We continue the war against Hamas and are ready for the next phase of the war,” he said.
The release comes amid growing expectations of a ground offensive that Israel says is aimed at rooting out Hamas militants ruling Gaza.
This story was reported by The Associated Press. Melissa Perez Winder reported from Evanston, Claire Savage reported from Chicago, Lisa Baumann from Bellingham, Washington, and Thomas Peipert reported from Denver.