Former Israel-based NBC News correspondent Martin Fletcher shared an update on Monday about his two family members who were released by Hamas last week after they were abducted and held hostage by the militant group.
Fletcher said Judith Raanan and her daughter Natalie were resting at a family member's house in Israel after they were freed Friday in the first diplomatic breakthrough since Hamas' attack on Israel on Oct. 7, but added there's another eight members of their family who are still being held hostage in Gaza.
"They're actually sitting shiva at the moment — the Israeli week of mourning — for two other members of the family who were killed," Fletcher said of Judith and Natalie Raanan. "So there's great relief, obviously, but great concern as well."
Fletcher has previously said Judith and Natalie Raanan are related to his wife.
It is unclear why Judith and Natalie Raanan were chosen to be released amongst the hundreds of others who are still being held hostage, Fletcher said.
"Everybody's asking whether it was the publicity ... maybe they were the closest to the border and it was just simply the easiest to free them when the time came," he said. "We don't know what it was yet."
Fletcher added he's getting many messages from other families asking for help with getting their loved ones back.
"I can't tell you how many messages I'm getting from people saying, 'Thank God your family's out. Can you help us with my family?' I'm getting those messages all the time," Fletcher said. "So there's hope that there's more negotiations going on. There must've been some kind of deal to let Judith and Natalie out — everybody wants to get in on the deal."
Judith and Natalie Raanan were abducted from Nahal Oz, a kibbutz near the Gaza border in southern Israel. Israeli Brig. Gen. Gal Hirsch met the mother and daughter at the Gaza border after their release Friday, and they were then taken to a military base where they were reunited with relatives, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari said.
Ayelet Sella, a cousin of Judith Raanan, said in an interview with NBC News she felt like she could breathe for the first time in over two weeks once she was reunited with Judith and Natalie.
"I can tell you that night was the first night that I had a dream since two weeks ago because it’s the first time that I’ve got some sleep," she said.
She added that while it was a relief for the mother and daughter to return, her family is in a "nonstop constant battle" for their other loved ones to be safely returned.
"It was everything all at once — joy, then guilt for feeling joy for just a second," she said.
Or Sella, Ayelet’s brother, told NBC News their family doesn't "have the privilege to celebrate."
"We don’t have the privilege to even mourn our murdered family members yet because each and every day we wake up and 24 hours a day we’re just doing everything we can to get everyone back," he said.
He added: "We are 100% focused on doing everything we can to just get everyone back. Our family and 200 more families."
Ayelet and Or Sella said of their family members who were still being held hostage, some are U.S.-Israeli dual citizens and the youngest being held is just 3 years old.
Israeli officials have said more than 220 people were taken by Hamas, including U.S.-Israeli dual citizens and other foreign nationals, while dozens of others are missing who have not been confirmed to have been taken captive.
At least 1,400 people have died in Israel in the Israel-Hamas war, and at least 4,651 have died in Gaza.
Fletcher said the pressure inside Israel to "take on Hamas" has hit many families hard.
"You've got 300,000 families of the reservists worrying about their children. Their boys and girls have joined the army and are about to go in to fight," he said.
Fletcher spoke of a message he received from a friend, who has four sons in Israel's army, the Israel Defense Forces.
"I said to him, 'So what do you think about Hamas and now you got your boys — what do you think?'" he recalled asking his friend. "He just started crying."
