Hamas releases 2 Israeli hostages from Gaza as war continues

Hamas released two more hostages on Monday, identified by Israeli officials as Nurit Cooper and Yocheved Lifshitz, just days after releasing two American women on Friday.

Cooper and Lifshitz were abducted from their homes in Kibbutz Nir Oz, a small Israeli community near the Gaza border that came under attack on Oct. 7.

“After being handed over to the IDF forces, they are making their way at this time to a medical center in Israel that was specially organized and prepared to receive them. Their family members will be waiting for them there,” a spokesperson for Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office, on behalf of the Special Envoy for Abducted and Missing Persons, said.

Cooper, 79, was taken with her husband, 85-year-old Amiram Cooper, Israeli officials said. Lifshitz, 85, was also abducted along with her husband, 83-year-old Oded Lifshitz. The women’s husbands were not released.

Yocheved and Oded Lifshitz were peace activists and regularly transported patients from Gaza to hospitals across Israel for medical treatments, according to the Times of Israel.