Israel says Hamas has freed two American hostages who had been held in Gaza since militants rampaged through southern Israel October 7.

Hamas released Judith Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter, Natalie, on Friday for what it said were humanitarian reasons in an agreement with Qatar, a Persian Gulf nation that has often served as a mediator in West Asia.

The two had been on a trip from their home in suburban Chicago to Israel to celebrate Jewish holidays, the family said. They were in the kibbutz of Nahal Oz, near Gaza, when Hamas and other militants stormed into southern Israeli towns.

Israel issued a travel warning on Saturday, ordering its citizens to leave Egypt andJordan — which made peace with it decades ago — and to avoid travel to a number of Arab and Muslim countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain, which forged diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020. Protests against Israel’s actions in Gaza have erupted across the region.

There are growing expectations of a ground offensive that Israel says would be aimed at rooting out Hamas.

Israel has also tradedfire along its northern border with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group, raising concerns about a second front opening up.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.