An American teenager has returned to Chicago 10 days after being released by Hamas, which kidnapped her and her mother from Israel.
Natalie Shoshana Raanan, 18, and Judith Tai Raanan, 59, were released by the terrorists earlier this month after being held hostage for 13 days.
The pair left Gaza without apparent injuries and got out of a car before being surrounded by ICRC staff wearing vests with the red cross on them.
Yinam Cohen, Israel’s consul general in the Midwest, said Natalie returned to the Chicago suburb of Evanston on Monday.
“I’m relieved to see Natalie back home in Chicago. Her family members have been eagerly awaiting her return, and today I share their happiness,” Cohen said.
Natalie Shoshana Raanan, 18, returned to Evanston, Chicago on Monday, 10 days after being released by Hama terrorists
Natalie and her mother Judith Tai Raanan, 59, (pictured) were released for ‘humanitarian reasons’
“As we celebrate Natalie’s return, we remember the 239 hostages, including infants, children, women and the elderly, still held by Hamas in Gaza.”
After their release, a photo of them hugging their relatives in Israel was posted on social media.
The two had been in Israel to celebrate a relative’s birthday and the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah when they were taken hostage by Hamas.
The terrorist attacks killed more than 1,400 people and took at least 230 hostage. This made it the worst attack on civilians in the state’s history.
Gunmen broke through the Gaza border barrier, sparking a war between Israel and Hamas and its sister group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Hamas said the pair, who have American-Israeli citizenship, were released for “humanitarian reasons.”
Hamas hostages Judith Raanan and Natalie Raanan, a mother and daughter from Chicago, have been released by the terror group
Natalie Raanan and her mother Judith speak with Joe Biden, in a photo released by the US Embassy in Israel on Friday evening
Natalie’s father Uri Raanan, 71, had previously said: ‘She is doing well. She is doing very well.
‘She didn’t tell me anything. But she told me that they were kind to her, and that she was doing very well.
“I’m going to hug her and kiss her, and it’s going to be the best day of my life.”
The father said he first heard of the possible release through Israeli television and then received a call from the IDF.
He described the past thirteen days as “the worst situation,” adding that he had been kept in the dark by the kidnappers.
‘I didn’t sleep at night and my mind was always in Israel. Lots of phone calls, lots of TV. “I spent two weeks glued to the TV, hoping for good news, and finally it came,” he said.
‘I haven’t lost hope. Praying and just waiting for this moment.”
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, said: “Two of our abductees are at home.
“We will not give up our efforts to bring home all the hostages and missing people. At the same time, we will continue to fight until victory.’
Natalie and her mother were visiting family in Israel for the Jewish holidays and a relative’s 85th birthday
So far, Hamas has released only four people: the Raanan’s and Nurit Cooper, 79, and Yocheved Lifschitz, 85.
Earlier today, Israeli forces pushed deeper into Gaza, driving tanks and armored bulldozers through the rubble as they searched for Hamas militants.
Israel said it hit 300 targets during the fourth night of land operations in Gaza, where troops came under Hamas anti-tank and machine gun fire.
Netanyahu has rejected growing international calls for a ceasefire.
He said suspending operations now would be a “surrender” to the Palestinian militant group responsible for brutal attacks on Israeli homes, farms and villages that have killed an estimated 1,400 people, Israeli officials said.
Smoke rises after an Israeli attack in the Gaza Strip, seen from Israel, October 31, 2023
Israeli soldiers drive medical military vehicles near Israel’s border with Lebanon, northern Israel, October 31, 2023
The raid scored an early victory on Monday with the rescue of soldier Ori Megidish, an Israeli soldier in Hamas captivity.
Private Megidish was reunited with her family and provided “intelligence that we can use for future operations,” Army spokesman Jonathan Conricus said.
The humanitarian toll has sparked a global response, with aid groups and the United Nations saying time is running out for many of the region’s 2.4 million people who lack access to food, water, fuel and medicine.
Surgeons perform amputations on hospital floors without anesthesia, and children are forced to drink salt water, said Jean-Francois Corty, vice president of Doctors Without Borders, which has 20 staff on the ground.
Israel has accused Hamas of using hospitals as military headquarters and civilians as “human shields,” accusations the Islamist militants dismiss as “baseless” propaganda.