Who are the first hostages released by Hamas?

Hamas has released Judith and Natalie Raanan, an American mother and daughter who were taken hostage following an attack in southern Israel on October 7, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Friday.

The women, who US media reported were from Evanston, Chicago, were taken 13 days ago from Kibbutz Nahal Oz, near the border with the Gaza Strip.

According to an Israeli newspaper HaaretzGrandmother Tamar Levitan celebrated her 85th birthday last month. Daughter Judith Raanan, 59, known as Eula, and granddaughter Natalie Raanan, 17, decided to visit Israel to celebrate their grandmother’s birthday.

Natalie graduated from high school two months ago and decided to take a year off to travel and decide what she wanted to study in the future, the newspaper reported.

They were the first hostages released since Hamas’s first attack on Israel 13 days ago. The renewed conflict has already left more than 1,400 people dead in Israel and 4,137 in the Gaza Strip, as well as hundreds taken hostage. The Israeli army said in a statement early Friday that most of the hostages were alive.

Abu Ubaydah, a spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, said the hostages were released in response to Qatari mediation efforts “for humanitarian reasons and to prove to the American people and the world that the accusations against Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless.”

A Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman said the hostages’ release came “after many days of continuous communication” with all parties. Qatar hopes the dialogue will lead to “the release of all civilian hostages of all nationalities,” the spokesman added.