EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — The father of freed American teen hostage Natalie Raanan said Friday she’s doing well following two weeks in captivity after she and her mother were abducted in Israel by Hamas and held in Gaza.
Uri Raanan of Illinois told The Associated Press that he spoke to his daughter Friday by telephone. “She’s doing good. She’s doing very good,” said Uri Raanan, who lives in the Chicago suburbs. “I’m in tears, and I feel very, very good.”
The 71-year-old said he saw on the news earlier Friday that an American mother and daughter would be released by Hamas, and he spent the day hoping that meant his daughter and her mother, Judith Raanan.
Knowing Natalie may be able to celebrate her 18th birthday next week at home with family and friends feels “wonderful. The best news,” her father said.
Ben Raanan, Natalie's brother, said before her abduction he and his sister had spoken of getting matching tattoos to mark her birthday. Instead, he got a tattoo this week in her honor, incorporating their names along with their brother's name.
The family's text message chain sharing updates on Friday moved from tentative hope to outright celebration, tempered by an awareness than other families still are living in fear for their loved ones, Ben Raanan told The Associated Press at his home in Denver.
“When I see her again, I think there aren't going to be words to express what's going on," he said. “It's just going to be like this intense hug that is bigger than words and bigger than what we could actually communicate verbally.”
Uri Raanan said he believes Natalie and Judith to be in transit to Tel Aviv to reunite with relatives, and that both will be back in the U.S. early next week.
An Israeli army spokesperson said the two Americans were out of the Gaza Strip and with the Israeli military. Hamas said Friday it released them for humanitarian reasons in an agreement with the Qatari government.
They were the first hostages to be released since Hamas militants, according to Israel, abducted roughly 200 people during their Oct. 7 rampage.
