Hamas on Monday released two hostages who were abducted during a brutal massacre on Kibbutz Nir Oz earlier this month, the Israeli prime minister’s office said.

The hostages — Nurit Cooper, 79, and Yocheved Lifshitz, 85 — were kidnapped with their husbands, who remain in the group’s custody, Israeli authorities said. More than 200 other hostages are believed to still be held.

Hamas said the women were released for “humanitarian and health reasons”. The release came three days after the group set free an Israeli-American mother and daughter.

Lifshitz’s grandson, Daniel, told reporters: “We are truly hoping that this is just the beginning of the release of all the remaining hostages.”

Their release came hours after the Israeli military raised the number of people kidnapped to 222, 10 more than a day earlier. The count has risen as the military has collected more information, including about the many foreign citizens who were kidnapped.

Buying more time to negotiate the release of hostages held by Hamas and other armed groups was part of the Biden administration’s rationale in advising Israel to delay a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, according to US officials. But as aid continued to trickle in on Monday and a small percentage of the hostages were released, the conditions remained dire in the Hamas-run territory.

The death toll in Gaza rose sharply on Monday, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, after Israel said it had struck hundreds of targets in the territory in one of the biggest barrages of airstrikes in recent days. The Gazan health ministry said more than 5,000 people had died since October 7, when Israel began retaliating for an attack by Hamas that killed 1,400 people.

“I’ve been through hell, we didn’t think or know we would get to this situation,” Lifshitz told reporters, seated in a wheelchair outside the Tel Aviv hospital where she was taken following her release.