US mother and daughter held hostage by Hamas have been released, says Israel

An Israeli woman looks at photos of Israelis missing and held captive in Gaza (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Hamas militants have freed two Americans – a mother and her teenage daughter – who had been held hostage in the Gaza Strip since extremists rampaged through Israel two weeks ago, the Israeli government said.

The pair, who also hold Israeli citizenship, were the first hostages to be released, and more than 200 are still being held.

Hamas said it was releasing them in an agreement with the Qatari government for humanitarian reasons.

Relatives of other captives welcomed the release and appealed for others to be freed.

“We call on world leaders and the international community to exert their full power in order to act for the release of all the hostages and missing,” the statement said.