2 US hostages held by Hamas freed

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Israel war 2023

By Olivia Land

Two American hostages kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in early October have been freed, Fox News reported Friday.

“In response to Qatar’s efforts, the Al-Qassam Brigades released two American citizens (a mother and her daughter) on humanitarian grounds and to prove to the American people and the world that the claims of Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless,” the terror group said in a statement.

Armed terrorists of Hamas, Oct. During the Operation Al-Aqsa flood in the early hours of the 7th, they captured at least 203 people, including young children and the elderly, and killed hundreds.

The deadly attack — which began when Hamas stormed through a border crossing between southern Israel and the Gaza Strip and fired thousands of rockets over a two-hour period — started the Israel-Hamas war that killed 1,400 Israelis.

Since the beginning of the conflict, Israeli officials have vowed to destroy Hamas while working to rescue hostages, many of whom are believed to be held in a tunnel system of terrorist cells beneath Gaza.

At one point, Hamas suggested a hostage exchange for the roughly 6,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails.

It said more than 20 hostages were killed by Israeli airstrikes, but gave no further details.

Israel has declared that its heavy siege will not end until all hostages are freed.

On October 20 – nearly two weeks after the initial Hamas attack – Israeli security forces confirmed that more than 20 of the hostages were under the age of 18, and another 10 to 20 were over 60. The Wall Street Journal reported.

At the time, the IDF said it had reason to believe most of the hostages were still alive — although they were scanning the Gaza border for the bodies of the missing Israelis, spokesman Rear Amt. Daniel Hagari said at a press conference. According to the Times of Israel.

Several hostages are believed to have been taken from the attack on the Tribe of Noah music festival in the southern Negev, where 260 people were shot dead when Hamas stormed the outdoor concert area.

One of the festival detainees, Mia Shem, appeared alive in a brief clip on October 16, pleading for her release after undergoing a three-hour operation in Gaza.

“They are taking care of me, giving me medicine, everything is fine. I am only asking my parents, my siblings to bring me home soon,” pleaded the 21-year-old.

“Get me out of here quickly. please.”

Families of hostages have often spoken out, both individually and through Bring Them Home Now, an organization created to represent loved ones of the missing.

Amidst their anguish, many of them expressed frustration with the Israeli government.

“Every second, every second, is a second more of our children’s existence, and everything else [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu talks about ‘winning the war,'” Hadas Calderon, her son, daughter, mother and daughter-in-law were taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7. told the Washington Post.

On October 18, Calderon learned that both his mother, Carmela, and his daughter-in-law, Noa, had died. There is no word yet on her son Eras, 12, or her 16-year-old daughter Sahar.

“We are simple people; We are good citizens. We gave our best to our country. “The Israeli government has forgotten us,” she lamented.

With post wires