Former hostage: Nurses in Gaza cheered when Hamas brought in 'Israeli, Jewish prey'

In an interview with NewsNation on Wednesday, a former U.S.-Israeli hostage said that the nurses at the hospital in Gaza where they were later held hostage cheered as the terrorists brought them in.

Judith Raanan and her daughter Natalie, who live in the United States, were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nahal Oz by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7. The two women had been visiting Judith’s mother to celebrate her 85th birthday.

Raanan and her daughter were released from captivity by Hamas after two weeks, allegedly as a stunt to “prove” that the terrorist organization was “humanitarian.”

Judith Raanan says nurses at a Gaza hospital celebrated her arrival after Hamas had taken her hostage Oct. 7. "They were all so happy that they came back with prey — with Israeli, Jewish prey."

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“In response to Qatari efforts, the 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 said in a statement at the time of their release.

In her first interview since then, Raanan described how the nurses cheered when the terrorists brought them into the hospital.

“The minute we came in, all the nurses were standing there and going like this [mimics ululation],” she said.

“They were all so happy that they came back with prey, with Israeli, Jewish prey. Although I told them that I'm an American,” she added.

The interviewer incredulously asked Raanan, “The nurses were cheering?”

“There was a leader nurse. I think the others were afraid of her. I really don't think all of them were happy to see us. They are very much terrified because you have to understand that right now, they are surrounded by people with guns,” Judith responded.

She also said that they were relocated “quite a few times” during their captivity.

Israeli journalist Shlomi Eldar from Channel 13 News explained why the nurses acted as they did.

“Most of the doctors and nurses in the Hamas hospitals in the Gaza Strip were appointed by Hamas,” Eldar told NewsNation in a later interview.

“So they are members of the Hamas movement. That’s why they are cheering when they saw the hostages came to Gaza… We have to understand that since 2014, and especially after 2017, many of the Palestinians in Gaza went through brainwashing. This is the consequence of Yahya Sinwar, the head of the Hamas movement. He changed the movement and tried to brainwash all the people in the Gaza Strip. It’s part of his war against Israel.”

Hamas has repeatedly argued that it does not use hospitals for military purposes, however, Israel has publicly debunked the lie, producing ample evidence of such use.

“Hamas political official Ezzat El-Reshiq on Friday denied allegations that the group was using the al-Shifa hospital as a shield for its underground military infrastructure, and said the claims have no basis in truth’,” Al Jazeera reported in October.

Similarly, the United Nations has refused to acknowledge the accusation and instead accused Israel of condemning Hamas. Top UN officials have stated they had no knowledge that Hamas was using hospitals to carry out terror activity, especially regarding Al-Shifa Hospital.

“On November 2, Dr. Michael Ryan, director of WHO health emergencies program, said he knew what was going on ‘above ground’ at Shifa and was aware that the use of medical facilities for military purposes is forbidden according to international law. Meanwhile, he claimed to doubt that any terror activities were happening at Shifa,” wrote Israeli Health Minister Uriel Bosso and the Health Ministry's Dir.-Gen. Moshe Bar Siman Tov in a letter to the WHO in November.

“Tragically, the WHO has remained silent when it comes to this issue and has taken only symbolic steps for the benefit of the Israelis in captivity, while speaking out decisively and critically against Israel’s efforts to overthrow Hamas and protect Palestinian citizens,” they added.