- More than 200 people are believed to have been kidnapped by the terrorists, and two Americans were released from Gaza on Friday amid the escalating conflict.
- And on Saturday, when asked if he would encourage Israel to delay its impending ground invasion, Joe Biden replied: ‘I’m talking to the Israelis’
The US government has asked Israel to delay its ground invasion of Gaza in an effort to free more hostages captured by Hamas – and to help aid enter the war-torn strip, sources said.
More than 200 people are believed to have been kidnapped by the terrorists, and two Americans were freed from Gaza on Friday amid the escalating conflict.
A source who spoke to CNN said: “The government has been pressuring Israeli leaders to grant a delay because of progress on the hostage issue.”
And on Saturday, when asked whether he would encourage Israel to delay its impending ground invasion, Joe Biden replied: “I’m talking to the Israelis.”
Natalie Shoshana Raanan, 17, and her mother Judith Tai Raanan, 59, arrived in Israel late Friday, the Israeli government confirmed, after leaving Gaza through an Egyptian-controlled border crossing.
The Palestinian people carry out a search and rescue operation under the rubble of a destroyed building after the Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah
Judith Tai Raanan and her daughter Natalie Shoshana Raanan arrived in Israel late Friday, the Israeli government confirmed.
The Raanans left Gaza without any apparent physical injuries, got out of a car and were then surrounded by ICRC personnel wearing vests with the Red Cross on them. The pair then got into a Red Cross car and drove away.
They are now receiving medical treatment, the Illinois governor said, without providing details on their condition. The deal to free the pair was brokered by Qatar.
Anthony Blinken, the Secretary of State, said there are still fears that Hamas is holding 10 Americans hostage.
The State Secretary announced the missing number during a press conference in which he announced the release of Judith and Natalie Raanan.
Blinken said he had no further information to offer on the “status or condition” of the Americans reportedly still in Hamas custody after the October 7 terror attacks.
“I cannot speak publicly about the details of these efforts, and I know you understand that, but the urgent work to free every American, to free all other hostages, continues – as does our work to ensure a safe and secure secure passage out of Gaza. for the Americans stuck there,” he said.
“In this specific case, I would like to thank the government of Qatar for their very important assistance.”
Jeremy Bash, former CIA chief of staff, said Qatar is valuable as an intermediary because Hamas’s political leadership works and lives out of Qatar and Turkey.
“In the past, when it was necessary to send messages to Hamas, Qatar was usually one of the intermediaries,” Bash said.
Bash said Judith and Natalie Raanan will likely be carefully interrogated by the IDF and Israel’s Shin Bet security service about any information they learned from their time in captivity.
That could include information about other hostages and Hamas’s communications tactics, he told NBC.
“This will be very useful information.”