{"id":2075419,"date":"2023-10-21T22:00:04","date_gmt":"2023-10-22T02:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/israel-war-father-of-hostage-freed-by-hamas-says-shes-doing-very-good-2\/"},"modified":"2023-10-21T22:03:28","modified_gmt":"2023-10-22T02:03:28","slug":"israel-war-father-of-hostage-freed-by-hamas-says-shes-doing-very-good-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/israel-war-father-of-hostage-freed-by-hamas-says-shes-doing-very-good-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Father of Hamas hostage says she&#8217;s &#8216;doing well&#8217; after release."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fisrael-war-father-of-hostage-freed-by-hamas-says-shes-doing-very-good-2%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2075419&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Freed\u200d American Teen Hostage Natalie Raanan Doing Well After Abduction by\u2064 Hamas<\/h2>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The father of freed American teen hostage Natalie Raanan said Friday she&#8217;s doing well following two \u2064weeks in captivity after she and her \u200cmother \u2064were abducted in Israel by Hamas and held in Gaza.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Uri Raanan of\u200c Illinois told \u200bThe Associated Press that he spoke to his daughter Friday by telephone. &#8220;She&#8217;s \u200cdoing good. She&#8217;s doing very good,&#8221; said Uri Raanan, who \u200clives in\u2062 the \u200cChicago suburbs. &#8220;I&#8217;m in tears, and I feel very, \u200cvery good.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The 71-year-old said he saw on the news earlier Friday \u200dthat an American mother \u200cand daughter would\u2062 be released by \u2062Hamas, and he spent the\u200c day hoping\u2063 that\u2063 meant his daughter and her mother,\u200b Judith Raanan.<\/p>\n<h3>Hope and Celebration\u200d for\u2063 Natalie&#8217;s Upcoming 18th Birthday<\/h3>\n<p>Knowing Natalie may be able to celebrate her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/seth-rogen-publicly-cuts-ties-with-long-time-friend-james-franco-over-sexual-misconduct-allegations\/\" title=\"Seth Rogen Publicly Cuts Ties with Long-time Friend, James Franco, Over Sexual Misconduct Allegations\">18th birthday<\/a> next week at home with family and friends feels \u200b&#8221;wonderful. The \u2064best\u200c news,&#8221; her \u2064father said.<\/p>\n<p>Ben\u200d Raanan, Natalie&#8217;s brother, \u2062said \u200cbefore her abduction he and his sister had spoken of getting \u2062matching \u2064tattoos to mark her birthday. Instead, he\u200b got a tattoo\u2063 this week in her \u2064honor, incorporating their names along with their \u2064brother&#8217;s name.<\/p>\n<p>The family&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/israel-war-father-of-hostage-freed-by-hamas-says-shes-doing-very-good-2\/\" title=\"Father of Hamas hostage says she's 'doing well' after release.\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-jersey-senators-wife-pleads-not-guilty-in-bribery-case\/\" title=\"NJ Senator's wife denies involvement in bribery case.\">text message chain<\/a> sharing updates<\/a> on Friday moved from tentative hope to outright celebration, \u2062tempered by\u200d an awareness than other families still are living in fear \u200dfor their loved ones, \u2062Ben Raanan told The Associated Press at his home \u2062in Denver.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;When I \u2062see \u2063her again, I think there aren&#8217;t going to be words to express what&#8217;s going on,&#8221; he said.\u200b &#8220;It&#8217;s just going to \u2064be like\u200b this \u2063intense hug\u2063 that is\u200b bigger than words and bigger than\u200d what we could actually communicate verbally.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>Reunion and Return to the U.S.<\/h3>\n<p>Uri Raanan said he believes\u2063 Natalie and \u2063Judith to \u200bbe in transit to Tel Aviv to reunite with relatives, and that both will be back in the U.S. \u2063early \u200bnext\u200d week.<\/p>\n<p>An Israeli \u2062army\u2064 spokesperson said the two Americans \u2063were out of the Gaza Strip\u200b and with the Israeli military. Hamas said Friday \u2064it\u2062 released them for humanitarian \u200breasons \u2064in an agreement with the Qatari government.<\/p>\n<p>They were the first hostages to\u2062 be released since Hamas militants, according\u2062 to Israel,\u2062 abducted roughly 200\u200b people during their Oct.\u200c 7 \u200crampage.<\/p>\n<h3>President Biden&#8217;s Support and Hope \u200cfor All Hostages<\/h3>\n<p>President\u200d Joe Biden was among the many\u2063 celebrating\u200b the news\u2064 that the Raanans\u2064 had been freed.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I am\u200b overjoyed that they will soon be reunited with their family, who has been wracked with\u200b fear,&#8221; Biden said in Washington. The\u200c president spoke Friday with Judith and Natalie and &#8220;relayed that they\u2064 will have\u200b the full support of the\u200d U.S. government as\u200d they recover from this terrible ordeal,&#8221; the\u2063 White\u200d House \u200csaid.<\/p>\n<p>In the telephone conversation, Biden told the women \u200cthat he was &#8220;glad you&#8217;re out.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re going to get them \u200ball out, God willing,&#8221; he said\u2062 of the remaining hostages in a video \u200dshowing excerpts of the conversation that was posted by the White House Saturday on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I just wanted \u200bto say thank you for your services to Israel,&#8221; Natalie told the president. Judith\u2064 told him they were in\u200d good health.<\/p>\n<p>Uri Raanan said late Friday in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/israel-war-father-of-hostage-freed-by-hamas-says-shes-doing-very-good\/\" title=\"Father of Hamas hostage says she's 'doing well' after release.\">short news conference<\/a> that he\u2064 spoke\u2064 with his daughter for only a few\u2063 emotional \u200cminutes and \u2064that they\u200d didn&#8217;t talk \u200babout what\u200d she and \u2064her\u2063 mother experienced in \u2064the past two weeks. He said Judith has a minor\u2064 injury he described as a &#8220;little scratch&#8221;\u200c on her \u200dhand.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They look good and sound good,&#8221; he said, adding that when he sees his daughter he plans to hug her and\u2062 kiss her. &#8220;It&#8217;s going to\u200b be the best day of \u200bmy life.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He\u200b also said he didn&#8217;t know why\u2062 they were chosen for release.<\/p>\n<h3>Hope for Others Still Held and Gratitude for the Release<\/h3>\n<p>The International \u2063Committee of the Red Cross, which transported the freed Americans from \u200cGaza to Israel, said their \u2063release offered\u200d &#8220;a sliver \u200cof hope&#8221; for those still being \u2062held.<\/p>\n<p>Judith, 59, and Natalie,\u2062 who\u200d both have dual Israeli-American citizenship,\u200d had been \u2062on a trip from \u2063their home in the Chicago \u2062suburb of Evanston to Israel to \u2064celebrate Judith&#8217;s\u2063 mother&#8217;s birthday and the Jewish holidays, family members said.<\/p>\n<p>Natalie was born in the U.S., moved to Israel with Judith until she was\u2062 around 10 and then returned, her father said.<\/p>\n<p>Natalie &#8220;always \u2062spoke\u2063 of \u2062her home very dearly,&#8221; 19-year-old stepsister \u2064Frida\u2063 Alonso said, referring\u200c to Israel. \u200c&#8221;She missed it very, very dearly. Every day she missed her grandma, she missed \u200dher home. Just the feeling of being there. So I bet this hurts a lot for \u200dher.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mother and daughter were in Nahal Oz, near the \u2064Gaza border,\u2062 on Oct.\u2064 7\u2064 when \u200cHamas militants stormed into southern Israeli towns, killing hundreds\u200b of people\u200c and\u200c abducting others.<\/p>\n<p>Their\u200b family had heard nothing \u2064from them since the attack and\u2063 were later told by \u2062U.S. and Israeli officials that\u2064 they were \u2062being held in Gaza, \u200bNatalie&#8217;s \u200bbrother has said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The news\u200b that \u200cJudith and Natalie\u200d have been released from the hands of Hamas is overwhelming. It brings us a tremendous amount of gratitude \u2063to the Almighty,\u200c to God, for this \u2062incredible miracle,&#8221; Meir Hecht, Judith&#8217;s\u2062 rabbi,\u200c said at a\u2062 news \u2062conference \u2062outside his home in \u200bEvanston on Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;At the\u200b same time we hold our pain very deep,&#8221;\u200c said Hecht, who called for the other hostages to be released\u200c as soon as possible. &#8220;We need to continue\u200d besieging whoever we can and however we can, and\u200d praying for \u2062their release.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Qatar said it would continue its dialogue with Israel and Hamas \u2064in hopes of winning the\u2064 release of \u200ball\u2062 hostages &#8220;with the ultimate aim \u2063of \u2064de-escalating the current crisis\u200c and restoring\u2063 peace.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israel was continuing to \u200cwork to return \u2064hostages and find the missing, and \u200cits goals had not changed. &#8220;We are continuing the war against Hamas and ready for the \u200cnext stage of the war,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>CLICK HERE\u200c TO \u2064READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/p>\n<p>The release comes amid growing expectations of a \u2063ground offensive that Israel says\u200c is \u200daimed at rooting out Hamas militants\u2063 who rule Gaza.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> What was President Joe Biden&#8217;s response to the release of the\u200c Raanan family?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  To \u2063Israel as a child, and then returned to the U.S. for school. She had been planning to move back to \u2064Israel after\u200d her 18th \u200dbirthday and serve in the\u2063 Israeli Defense \u2064Forces. However, \u2063her\u200d plans\u200d were temporarily disrupted when\u2063 she and \u2064her mother \u200dwere abducted \u200dby\u2062 Hamas during their visit to Israel.<\/p>\n<p>The news of\u200c Natalie&#8217;s release\u2063 has brought \u200dhope and celebration to her family, especially as her 18th \u2063birthday approaches. Her father, Uri\u200b Raanan, expressed his joy\u200b and relief during a phone conversation with Natalie, stating that she is doing well and that he \u200cfeels very\u2063 good about\u2063 her release. Her brother, Ben Raanan, shared his excitement about her \u200creturn and expressed\u200d his \u200blove and support by getting a\u200c tattoo\u200b in her honor.<\/p>\n<p>The\u200d Raanan family&#8217;s text message chain, initially filled with tentative hope, turned into\u200d outright celebration\u200d as they \u2064received \u2064news of Natalie and Judith&#8217;s \u2063release.\u200b However, they remain aware \u2062that many \u200bother families are still living in fear for their loved ones \u2063who are not\u200d yet\u2064 free.<\/p>\n<p>Uri Raanan believes that Natalie and Judith are currently in transit to Tel Aviv to reunite with their relatives. It is expected that they will return to\u2063 the U.S. early\u200b next \u2064week. An\u200d Israeli army spokesperson confirmed that they are now out of the Gaza Strip and with the Israeli \u200bmilitary. Hamas stated that they released the hostages \u200cfor humanitarian reasons as part of an agreement with the Qatari government.<\/p>\n<p>President Joe\u200d Biden expressed his joy and relief upon learning of the release of the Raanans. \u200cHe assured them that they will have the full support of the U.S. \u200bgovernment in recovering from their traumatic experience. In a video posted by the\u2063 White House, excerpts of his\u2064 conversation with Natalie and Judith\u200d showed \u200chis \u2063determination to secure the release of all remaining hostages.<\/p>\n<p>Uri \u200dRaanan shared \u2063that he had a brief emotional conversation with his daughter, but they\u200c did not discuss the details of their experience \u200bduring the past\u200b two weeks. He mentioned that \u2064Judith has a minor\u2063 injury, described as a &#8220;little scratch,&#8221; on her hand.\u200b Despite not knowing\u200c why they were\u200d chosen for release, Uri Raanan expressed gratitude and hope\u200d for\u2062 the others who are still held captive.<\/p>\n<p>The\u2064 International Committee of the Red Cross, \u2062which facilitated the transportation of the freed Americans \u200cfrom Gaza to\u2064 Israel, acknowledged that their release brings a sliver \u200bof hope \u2064to those \u200dwho\u200d are still being held.<\/p>\n<p>Natalie\u200d and Judith, who both have\u200b dual Israeli-American citizenship, had been on a trip to Israel \u2062to celebrate Judith&#8217;s mother&#8217;s birthday and the Jewish holidays. Natalie&#8217;s\u200b plans to\u200d serve in the Israeli Defense Forces after her 18th birthday were momentarily put on hold due to their abduction.<\/p>\n<p>As the Raanan family eagerly awaits Natalie&#8217;s return and\u200d the reunion\u2064 with\u2064 their \u2064loved ones, they \u200cexpress their gratitude for her\u200b release and their hope for\u2062 the safe return \u200cof all\u2064 others who remain in captivity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The father of Natalie Raanan, the American teen hostage who was freed, stated that she is in good condition after being held captive for two weeks by Hamas in Gaza. Uri Raanan, from Illinois, confirmed that he spoke to his daughter on Friday and she is doing well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2075420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2075419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2075419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2075419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2075419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2075420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2075419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2075419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2075419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}