Hamas released two Israeli hostages, according to the Red Cross.
In a tweet, the Red Cross said, “We facilitated the release of 2 more hostages, transporting them out of #Gaza this evening. Our role as a neutral intermediary makes this work possible & we are ready to facilitate any future release.”
“We hope that they will soon be back with their loved ones,” the organization added.
The hostages, Nurit Yitzhak and Yocheved Lifshitz, were released on “humanitarian and poor health grounds,” Hamas said in a statement.
Lifshitz, an 85-year-old woman, explained her abduction to AFP.
“I didn’t think or know I’d get to this situation. They went on a rampage in our kibbutz, kidnapped me, lay me over a motorcycle… and sped off with me through the ploughed fields,” she described.
“The guys beat me on the way, they didn’t break my ribs but hurt me there very much,” Lifshitz said.
At a hospital in Tel Aviv, however, the woman told reporters that Hamas “treated us gently, and provided all our needs,” adding, “They seemed ready for this, they prepared for a long time, they had everything that men and women needed, including shampoo.”
The woman stated that hostages “ate the same food they did — pitas with cream cheese, melted cheese, cucumbers. That was a meal for an entire day.”
American Faith reported that two American citizens were previously released from Hamas activity.
Two hostages, a “mother and daughter Yehudit Tai and Natali Shoshana Raanan,” had been “released by the Hamas terror organization and were transferred to the Israeli border via the Red Cross,” the Israeli government declared.
The family will not be celebrating their return until other hostages are recovered.
“The release of Judith and Natalie is a moment of extraordinary relief – far beyond anything we can express in words,” the family spokesperson said. “Unfortunately, we do not have the privilege of celebrating their return, or of mourning our lost loved ones.”
“We remain entirely focused on the efforts to secure the return of our eight other family members that remain captive in Gaza, along with the estimated 192 other people still held hostage, which includes numerous Americans and many who are seriously injured and in need of immediate medical treatment,” the spokesperson continued.