Hamas frees two female elderly Israeli hostages for health reasons

Two hostages freed by Hamas arrived late on Monday at the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, Egyptian state-affiliated media reported.

"Two women who were held in Gaza arrived at the Rafah crossing," Extra News TV reported after the group said they had been freed with Egyptian and Qatari mediation for "compelling humanitarian" reasons.

Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the armed wing, said in a statement on Telegram: "We decided to release them for humanitarian and poor health grounds." It named the two as Nurit Yitzhak and Yocheved Lifshitz.

The armed wing released an American mother and daughter, Judith and Natalie Raanan, on Friday, nearly two weeks after Hamas gunmen carried out an Oct. 7 cross-border assault, killing 1,400 people and taking more than 200 hostages.

Israel's Channel 12 said on Monday that the third and fourth hostages had been released and that families had been informed.

There was no immediate comment from Israeli officials.

Yocheved Lifshitz is helped by the Red Cross to wait for ambulances at the Rafah border crossing. AP

Israel pounded hundreds of targets in Gaza from the air on Monday as its soldiers fought Hamas during raids into the besieged Palestinian strip where deaths are soaring and civilians are trapped in harrowing conditions.

Gaza's health ministry said 436 people had been killed in bombardments over the past 24 hours, most in the south of the narrow, densely populated territory, next to which Israeli troops and tanks have massed for a possible ground invasion.

Agencies