Hamas Releases 2 Israeli Hostages

Hamas’s armed wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, released two Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip with the mediation of Qatar and Egypt. The hostages, Nurit Yitzhak and Yocheved Lifshitz, were released for humanitarian and medical reasons, after Israel initially declined their release request. This comes in the midst of ongoing conflicts between Israel and Palestine, and Hamas had previously released other hostages, including an Israeli mother and her children, and a U.S. citizen mother and daughter.