Longtime NBC Journalist Says Hamas Took Wifes Family Members Hostage

UPDATE: 3:15 p.m. — Hostages Judith and Natalie Raanan have been released by Hamas. 

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Former Israel-based NBC News correspondent Martin Fletcher revealed during an MSNBC appearance that two members of his wife’s family were among the hostages captured by Hamas from Israel.

Fletcher, who served as Middle East correspondent and Tel Aviv bureau chief, choked up as he explained the situation to MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle on Thursday night during a discussion about the Israel-Hamas conflict. 

He said he had just learned the news that day. He said that Natalie and Judith Raanan, Americans from Evanston, Illinois, were in Israel visiting their grandmother for her 85th birthday.

“They were last seen [with] their hands tied, being dragged away by the Hamas terrorists. So it’s personal, it’s real,” he said.

Judith Raanan and her teenage daughter Natalie Raanan were visiting Judith Raanan’s mother at a kibbutz in the south of Israel at the time of Hamas’ Oct. 7 surprise attack, The New York Times reported last week . 

Natalie Raanan had just graduated high school.

Family members in Israel were reportedly told that the women were in Gaza but that it was not known if they were dead or alive.

Family and community members in Evanston, a suburb north of Chicago, told The Associated Press  they’re praying for the pair’s safe return.

Natalie Raanan’s aunt, Sigal Zamir, said, “I pray for them to come back alive. They’re innocent and loving, and they didn’t do anything.”

An estimated 200 people were taken hostage to Gaza, Israel’s public broadcaster Kan said on Thursday. Hamas says it has 200 hostages, Reuters reported . At least 20 Americans are missing, according to U.S. authorities.