Antony Blinken, Secretary of State, Questions Why Hamas Released Two American Hostages

The U.S. doesn’t know why Hamas late last week chose to free two of its American hostages, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday, as questions swirl about the fate of the remaining prisoners held by the militant group in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas on Friday released Judith Ranaan, 59, and her daughter, Natalie, 17, both of the Chicago area. Hamas said only that the Ranaans had been released on “humanitarian” grounds.

The U.S. has been working closely with Israel and with Arab partners, some of whom have lines of communication with Hamas leadership, to free the roughly 200 hostages taken by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attack on Israel. More than 1,400 Israelis were killed in that assault.

So far, the Ranaans are the only hostages who have been freed. Mr. Blinken said it isn’t clear why.

“We don’t know why Hamas chose to release Natalie and Judith first,” he told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I can’t speak to that. What I can speak to is our incessant efforts from day one to try to get people home.”

President Biden said Friday from the White House that he and first lady Jill Biden were “overjoyed” at the news of the release: “We have not ceased our efforts to secure the release of those who are still being held.”

“As president, I have no higher priority than the safety of Americans held hostage around the world,” Mr. Biden said, thanking the governments of Israel and Qatar for their work in obtaining the release of the first two hostages.

Mr. Blinken said the rest of the hostages should be released “now, unconditionally.” But Hamas has threatened to publicly execute prisoners if Israel strikes civilian targets in the Gaza Strip.