Posters with photos of missing persons | Credit -AP
Hamas, the group that controls Gaza, announced on Friday that its armed wing had freed two American hostages out of the approximately 200 people it abducted during its October 7 attacks in Israel.
"In response to Qatari efforts, (Ezzedine) al-Qassam Brigades released two American citizens (a mother and her daughter) for humanitarian reasons," Hamas said in a statement posted on Telegram.
The Islamist organisation did not specify when or how the hostages were freed.
The majority of individuals abducted and taken to Gaza were still alive, the Israeli military claimed early on Friday, AFP reported.
"The majority of the hostages are alive. There were also dead bodies that were taken... to the Gaza Strip," an army statement said.
According to the military, between 10 and 20 of the hostages were older than 60, and more than 20 of them were youngsters.
The army further stated that after the Hamas strikes, between 100 and 200 persons are still listed as missing.
Over 1,400 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the deadliest attack on Israel in its 75-year history on October 7, which was carried out by the Palestinian militant Hamas.
At least 4,137 people have died in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israel's unrelenting bombardment in response, the majority of them were civilians, according to the health ministry operated by Hamas.