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Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Oct. 20 that two American citizens who were being held hostage by Hamas were released to Israeli authorities. (Video: The Washington Post)

Hamas releases two American hostages, a mother and daughter

Updated October 21, 2023 at 12:58 a.m. EDT|Published October 20, 2023 at 1:30 a.m. EDT
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A spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Hamas’s armed wing released a mother and daughter, both American citizens, into Israeli custody Friday. President Biden said he was “overjoyed” about the return of the two hostages, who were among the hundreds taken in a massive cross-border attack on Oct. 7. Earlier in the day, United Nations Secretary General António Guterres visited the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, standing by aid trucks he said were still blocked from reaching Palestinians who have “no food, no medicine, no fuel.” He described the trucks as a “lifeline” for nearly 2 million people in Gaza under siege and Israeli strikes, adding that “we need to make them move.”

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An Israeli strike damaged Gaza’s historic Church of St. Porphyrius, which was sheltering hundreds of Palestinians displaced by the war, according to religious officials. Rescuers were still digging through the rubble after Thursday’s strike, which the Gaza health ministry said killed at least 16 Christians. The Israeli military said it was aware of reports of casualties and was reviewing the incident.
Palestinian officials said Israeli strikes have killed 4,137 people in Gaza and wounded roughly 13,200. At least 1,400 people in Israel have been killed and more than 4,500 injured since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, Israeli authorities said. At least 32 U.S. nationals have died.
As the Biden administration prepares to submit an urgent budget request to Congress to assist both Israel and Ukraine, President Biden gave an Oval Office speech Thursday seeking to convince Congress and the American public that Washington must maintain support for both Israel and Ukraine.
Israeli strikes “are continuing across Gaza, including in the south,” the United Nations human rights office said Friday. Israel had previously urged more than 1 million Gaza residents to evacuate the north. The U.N. also said it was “extremely alarmed by the rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in the occupied West Bank.”
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An Israeli strike damaged Gaza’s historic Church of St. Porphyrius, which was sheltering hundreds of Palestinians displaced by the war, according to religious officials. Rescuers were still digging through the rubble after Thursday’s strike, which the Gaza health ministry said killed at least 16 Christians. The Israeli military said it was aware of reports of casualties and was reviewing the incident.
Palestinian officials said Israeli strikes have killed 4,137 people in Gaza and wounded roughly 13,200. At least 1,400 people in Israel have been killed and more than 4,500 injured since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, Israeli authorities said. At least 32 U.S. nationals have died.
As the Biden administration prepares to submit an urgent budget request to Congress to assist both Israel and Ukraine, President Biden gave an Oval Office speech Thursday seeking to convince Congress and the American public that Washington must maintain support for both Israel and Ukraine.
Israeli strikes “are continuing across Gaza, including in the south,” the United Nations human rights office said Friday. Israel had previously urged more than 1 million Gaza residents to evacuate the north. The U.N. also said it was “extremely alarmed by the rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in the occupied West Bank.”
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Israel-Gaza war

Israel has agreed to daily “tactical, localized pauses” in its offensive against Hamas to allow the distribution of humanitarian assistance and the further evacuation of civilians. As the war passes a month of fighting, Israel’s endgame for Gaza is no clearer. Understand what’s behind the Israel-Gaza war.

Hostages: Officials say Hamas militants abducted about 239 hostages in a highly organized attack. Four hostages have been released — two Americans and two Israelis — as families hold on to hope. One released Israeli hostage recounted the “spiderweb” of Gaza tunnels she was held in.

Humanitarian aid: The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it has received over 370 trucks with food, medicine and water in the Gaza Strip through Egypt’s Rafah crossing. However, the PRCS said, there hasn’t been permission yet to bring in fuel to power the enclave’s hospitals, water pumps, taxis and more.

Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip has a complicated history, and its rulers have long been at odds with the Palestinian Authority, the U.S.-backed government in the West Bank. Here is a timeline of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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