Israel-Gaza updates: Biden speaks with Netanyahu about hostages, Gaza aid

Two American hostages have been released by Hamas -- Judith Raanan, 59, and her daughter, Natalie Raanan, 17 -- and are now back in Israel, the Israel Defense Forces said.

Their conditions were not immediately clear.

The Raanans are from Illinois. Judith Raanan's son said his mom and sister were in Israel for a relative's birthday when they were taken hostage at the Nahal Oz kibbutz.

President Joe Biden said in a statement, "I am overjoyed that they will soon be reunited with their family, who has been wracked with fear."

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2 Americans held hostage in Gaza released by Hamas

Judith Raanan and Natalie Raanan are now in the custody of the Red Cross after nearly two weeks in captivity.

ABCNews.com

"From the earliest moments of this attack, we have been working around-the-clock to free American citizens who were taken hostage by Hamas, and we have not ceased our efforts to secure the release of those who are still being held. I thank the government of Qatar and the government of Israel for their partnership in this work," Biden said. "As I told those families when I spoke with them last week -- we will not stop until we get their loved ones home."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that the hostages were received "at the border of the Gaza Strip" and were being taken to "a meeting point at a military base in the center of the country, where their family members are waiting for them."

Meir Hecht, a rabbi in Illinois, told reporters that Judith Raanan came to services at his congregation every Shabbat and holiday.

The rabbi said he's "overjoyed" to hear of Judith and Natalie Raanan's release and said there will be a "huge celebration" once they're back home.

He added that he's still "deeply and painfully concerned for the 200-plus hostages that are still there in Gaza."

Hamas said in a statement that the two American hostages were released "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."

An American humanitarian aid worker who remains trapped in the Gaza Strip has told her family that Israeli airstrikes "have increased in intensity" in recent days.

"[They've increased] even in the south where people were told they'd be safe," her niece, Leah Okumura, told ABC News in a remote interview on Friday. "It sounds like fireworks where she's staying just constantly."

Okumura's aunt, Ramona, traveled to Gaza several weeks ago to work with children in need of prosthetic limbs. She evacuated from a [U.N.] compound in northern Gaza last week, moving south and heeding Israel's call to do so as it launched retaliatory airstrikes on the Hamas militant group that rules the territory. She is now waiting to cross into Egypt, but the border remains closed "despite several promises" from the U.S. Department of State that Americans would be allowed through, according to her niece.

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Niece of American aid worker trapped in Gaza speaks out

Leah Okumura spoke about the continuing struggles and delays of her Aunt Ramona who remains trapped in Gaza.

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"She currently has limited access to food and water," Okumura said. "We're grateful that she does have access to any at all."

"We love her very much and we are doing everything that we can," she added. "I just want her to come home."

-ABC News' Ibtissem Guenfoud, James Longman, Zoe Magee and Morgan Winsor

A lawyer who has been in touch with multiple American families trapped in the Gaza Strip said the U.S. Department of State has offered them no plan, timeline or departure option.

"They continue to be mislead with bad information," Sammy Nabulsi told ABC News in a remote interview on Friday.

One of those families is waiting to cross into Egypt via the Rafah border crossing, which remains closed despite State Department officials indicating that it would open and Americans would be able to leave Gaza, Nabulsi said. In recent days, the family has run out of drinking water and the house they’re staying in was almost hit by an Israeli airstrike, according to Nabulsi, who noted that "the intensity of bombing and airstrikes in the area has increased."

"My biggest fear is that if this continues ... they may die," he said. "That’s frankly where we’re headed at the moment."

-ABC News' Ibtissem Guenfoud, James Longman, Zoe Magee and Morgan Winsor

President Joe Biden said Friday he believes the first 20 humanitarian aid trucks will enter Gaza "in the next 24 to 48 hours."

"I got a commitment from the Israelis and the president of Egypt that the crossing will be opened," he said.