Hamas frees 2 hostages; aid enters Gaza via Rafah border

AID ON THE WAY | Egyptian Red Crescent workers at el-Arish airport prepare relief goods for transport to the Gaza Strip on Saturday, after Egypt opened its border with southern Gaza to allow a 20-truck aid convoy to enter the besieged Palestinian enclave. As the humanitarian breakthrough was achieved, Israeli troops remained massed at the border for an expected ground assault. (REUTERS)

RAFAH, Palestinian Territories — Hamas released two American hostages held in Gaza, offering a “sliver of hope” to desperate families, even as Israel pounded the densely populated territory where millions waited for aid deliveries which began entering this border with Egypt on Saturday.

The Islamist group took more than 200 people hostage when it stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7 and killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians who were shot, mutilated or burned to death on the first day of the raid, according to Israeli officials.

The fate of the hostages has been shrouded in uncertainty, so the release of American Judith Raanan, 59, and her 17-year-old daughter Natalie offered a sliver of hope, said Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Aid enters Gaza

US President Joe Biden said he was “overjoyed” by the release, which comes days after he visited Israel to express solidarity and also press for humanitarian aid into Gaza.

He said he had spoken to the Raanans and promised support “as they recover from this terrible ordeal.”Meanwhile, a 20-truck convoy delivering humanitarian aid entered the Rafah border crossing from Egypt on Saturday afternoon.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres visited the border on Friday in a push to get the aid in.

Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, said the delivery included medicine and limited amounts of food as well as life-saving supplies that would be received by the Palestinian Red Crescent.

UN officials say at least 100 trucks a day are needed in Gaza to cover urgent needs, and that any delivery of aid needs to be sustained and at scale.

Before the outbreak of conflict, an average of about 450 aid trucks arrived there daily.

“I am confident that this delivery will be the start of a sustainable effort to provide essential supplies, including food, water, medicine and fuel,” UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said in a statement.

An advisory Saturday morning by the US Embassy in Israel said the border was expected to be opened at 10 a.m., adding that “We anticipate that many people would attempt to cross should the border open.”

‘Close the hostage file’

But live coverage on Saturday afternoon showed only the trucks moving into the Gaza Strip.Israeli troops are massed on the border with Gaza ahead of an expected ground invasion that officials have pledged will begin “soon.”

But a full-blown land offensive carries many risks, including to the hostages from Israel and around the world held by Hamas.

Biden thanked Qatar, which hosts Hamas’ political bureau, for its mediation in securing the release of the two hostages, and said he was working “around the clock” to win the return of other Americans being held.

Natalie’s half-brother Ben told BBC he felt an “overwhelming sense of joy [after] the most horrible of ordeals.”

Hamas said Egypt and Qatar had negotiated the release, adding that it was “working with all mediators to implement the movement’s decision to close the civilian (hostage) file if appropriate security conditions allow.”

Israel’s military said “the majority” of those abducted are still alive, while traumatized families demanded more action.

“Absolutely nothing has been done,” Assaf Shem Tov, whose nephew was abducted from a music festival, said Friday.“We ask humanity to interfere and bring back all those young boys, young girls, mothers, babies.”

‘Second Nakba’

In Gaza, Israeli jets continued a relentless bombing campaign, with the military saying it hit more than 100 Hamas targets overnight.

Thousands have taken refuge in a tent city set up in southern Gaza’s Khan Yunis.

Fadwa al-Najjar said she and her seven children walked some 10 hours to reach the camp, at some points breaking into a run as air strikes descended around them.

“We saw bodies and limbs torn off and we just started praying, thinking we were going to die,” she said.“I would have preferred not to leave, to have stayed at home and died there,” her daughter Malak said.

“I’m afraid that the current destruction is part of a clear plan for people to have no place left to live,” said Omar Ashour, a retired general in Gaza.

“This will cause a second Nakba,” he added, referring to the 760,000 Palestinians who were expelled from or fled their homes when Israel was established in 1948.