They show images of the two American hostages at the time of being freed from Hamas: "They are fine"

A few hours after learning of Hamas's decision to release two American citizens, Judith and Natalie Raanan, mother and daughter, the latter's father, Uri Raanan, stated that they are well, happy and eager to return home.

“I talked to my daughter today. Sounds great, looks great. “She was very happy and is waiting to come home,” he said at a press conference from Bannockburn, the municipality in the state of Illinois where they reside.

His ex-wife, he explained, has “a small scratch on her hand” but “it's nothing, she's fine.”

The spokesman for the Al Qasam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, announced this Friday the release of the two American hostages (who were in Israel visiting relatives) for “humanitarian reasons”, after mediation by Qatar.

He stated that they have adopted this gesture to “demonstrate to the American people and the world that the claims made by Biden and his fascist Administration are false and unfounded.”

After being released, they underwent medical check-ups and received a phone call from President Biden.. The US embassy in Jerusalem published a photograph through the social network X (formerly Twitter) in which the two women appear talking on the phone with the president, with smiling faces.

Also in X, Biden himself published a photograph in which he appears speaking on the phone, with a big smile, from the Oval Office.

“I just spoke with the two Americans freed after being held hostage by Hamas. I let them know that their government will fully support them as they recover and heal.. “Jill (the first lady) and I will continue to hold all the families of missing Americans close to our hearts,” the president declared.

Uri Raanan explained that his daughter has not told him anything about how the two weeks she has been held since Hamas militants orchestrated a wave of surprise attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip and kidnapped more than 200 people of various nationalities.. An event that caused Israel to declare war.

According to Raanan, the two women are expected to be back in the United States next week.. “Hopefully I'll be able to see them next week” and celebrate Natalie's 18th birthday, which is next Tuesday.

In the conversation with the media, Raanan explained that he first learned of the release when he began receiving photographs from Israeli television channels on his phone and that shortly after the Israel Defense Forces called him saying that they were going to reunite with his daughter and his mother.

Through a statement, Biden celebrated the release and stated that he will not stop until the rest of the hostages are freed.

“Since the first moments of the attack, we have been working day and night to free the Americans who were taken hostage by Hamas, and we have not slowed our efforts to secure the release of those still held,” he explained.

The release occurred two days after Biden visited Israel to demonstrate his country's “unwavering” support and defend the right of Israelis to defend themselves.

In addition, he compared Hamas to the terrorist group Islamic State (IS) and assured that the “atrocities” committed by the Palestinian organization make “Daesh” (another name for IS) seem more rational.

Exact number of hostages with US passports held by Islamists in Gaza unknown. There are currently 13 Americans missing and thirty dead after the attack that left more than 1,400 dead on Israeli soil.

The Palestinian group also kidnapped 250 hostages (200 that it says are in its hands and 50 in the hands of other Palestinian militias), although the Israeli Army has reduced that number to 203.