‘We make it clear…’: American hostages' family reacts to Shaun King's claims about facilitating their release from Hamas

Notably, Judith Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter, Natalie were received by the Israeli military upon their release on Friday.

Family of the two American hostages who were released from Hamas' custody in Gaza, have reacted to American writer and social activist Shaun King's claims that he facilitated their release. Notably, Judith Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter, Natalie were received by the Israeli military upon their release on Friday. Hamas had shared that it released the hostages for humanitarian reasons.

Judith Tai Raanan and her daughter Natalie Shoshana Raanan, U.S. citizens who were taken as hostages by Palestinian Hamas militants, look on after they were released by the militants, in response to Qatari mediation efforts, in Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video obtained by Reuters on October 21, 2023. (via REUTERS)

"In response to Qatari efforts, Al-Qassam Brigades released two American citizens (a mother and her daughter) for humanitarian reasons, and to prove to the American people and the world that the claims made by Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless," Hamas had written.

What Shaun King claimed

Taking to Instagram, King had claimed that he facilitated the release of Judith and Natalie. In his post, the American writer had thanked Qatar for their help in the safe release of the hostages.

“Hamas has just freed the teenager Natalie Raanan and her mother. I’m grateful. As I said last week, Natalie and her family have been supporters of mine and protested police violence in America alongside us. I am also thankful for the Qatari government for helping to negotiate this. Dozens of us worked frantically behind the scenes to help make this possible. I spoke to Natalie’s family this afternoon and they are anxiously awaiting more updates," wrote King.

Raanan family's reaction to King's claims

The American hostages' family out rightly denied having any links or association with King. The family called him a "liar" and vehemently rejected his claims.

"First and foremost, we make it clear that he is lying! Our family does not and did not have anything to do with him, neither directly nor indirectly. Not to him and not to anything he claims to represent," said the family.

"Natalie told us that this morning it was the first time in her life that she came across Shaun King's name and his posts, after she finally got a phone call after two horrific weeks in captivity in Gaza, and was looking for what was written about her while she was away," added the family.

However, about 200 people who were abducted from Southern Israel on October 7 during the terrorist attack by Hamas, are yet to be released.