JERUSALEM — Two more hostages, identified as Nurit Yitzhak and Yocheved Lifshitz, have been released by Hamas, multiple sources confirmed to NBC News.
In a statement on Telegram, the military wing of Hamas said it had decided to release the pair for “compelling humanitarian” reasons.
NBC News has not seen images of the hostages being released.
The announcement comes three days after the release of two Americans who had been held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip — Judith Raanan and her teenage daughter, Natalie. They are related to former Israel-based NBC News correspondent Martin Fletcher.
At least 212 people were taken hostage by Hamas after terrorists attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing more than 1,000 people, according to Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari. Israel and Hamas have been at war since, and Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes in Gaza had killed at least 5,087 people as of Monday morning, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Hamas has said it does not have custody of all the hostages and that some were taken captive by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another militant group based in Gaza.
The rapidly deteriorating conditions in Gaza have stoked international concerns about a major humanitarian crisis, with many groups accusing Israel of breaching international law by exercising collective punishment.
Richard Engel reported from Jerusalem, and Daniel Arkin from New York.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
