WASHINGTON, Oct 20, 2023 (AFP) – US President Joe Biden said Friday he was “overjoyed” after Hamas released two American hostages abducted during the militant group’s surprise attack from Gaza on Israel.
Biden spoke by phone to the two women after they were freed and promised they would have the government’s support “as they recover from this terrible ordeal,” the White House said.
“Today, we have secured the release of two Americans taken hostage by Hamas during the horrific terrorist assault against Israel on October 7,” Biden said in a statement.
“Our fellow citizens have endured a terrible ordeal these past 14 days, and I am overjoyed that they will soon be reunited with their family, who has been wracked with fear.”
Biden thanked Qatar, the Gulf state that hosts a Hamas political office and has previously brokered deals between the group and Israel, and the Israeli government “for their partnership in this work.”
The US president vowed to work “around the clock” to win the release of other Americans being held by Hamas, some of whose families he spoke to last week.
“We will not stop until we get their loved ones home. As president, I have no higher priority than the safety of Americans held hostage around the world,” Biden said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said 10 other Americans remained unaccounted for, some of whom were among the estimated 200 people being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.
“They include men, women, young boys, young girls, elderly people, from many nations,” Blinken said.
“Every single one of them should be released.”
Blinken said a team from the US Embassy would visit the two freed women, but offered no information about their condition.
Asked about a Hamas statement saying it was working with mediators to free more civilian hostages, Blinken called for all hostages to be released immediately.
“I would not take anything Hamas says at face value,” he said, stressing that “every hostage needs to be released and needs to be released now.”
Blinken, who returned Wednesday from an intensive tour of Israel and several Arab countries, also thanked Qatar for its efforts to secure the release of the American hostages.
