Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Natalie and Judith Raanan are safe and receiving medical treatment after being released by Hamas.

"I am incredibly relieved that Natalie and Judith Raanan of Evanston have been released from captivity in Gaza," Pritzker said in a statement.

"In what was supposed to be a visit to their loving family in Israel, they were violently abducted by a terrorist organization," he said. "After being held against their will for nearly two weeks, they are now safe and receiving necessary medical treatment."

"I cannot wait to welcome them back home after demonstrating immense strength and bravery in the face of unthinkable terror. We must continue to advocate and pray for the safe return of those still held by Hamas. We will not let those who use terror as their weapon win," Pritzker said.

ASHDOD, Israel — A U.S. mother and daughter who were taken hostage by Hamas, both relatives of former Israel-based NBC correspondent Martin Fletcher, have been released.

Judith Tai Raanan and her daughter Natalie Shoshana Raanan were met by officials at the Gaza border this evening, a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.

They were “on their way to a meeting point at a military base in the center of the country, where their family members are waiting for them,” the spokesperson said.

The mother and daughter were taken captive when Hamas militants swept through their kibbutz, Nahal Oz, on Oct. 7, the spokesperson said.

In an interview with NBC News, Fletcher said his wife was told her family members were with the Red Cross in Israel.  There’s “obviously a huge sigh of relief and at the same time concern that there are still so many hostages,” Fletcher said.

Gaza's oldest Greek Orthodox church, which was sheltering hundreds of displaced Palestinians, was hit by a deadly explosion on Thursday night.

Ibrahim Jahshan, a Palestinian Christian and one of the church's singers, was sheltering there with his family when the fatal blast took place. He said approximately 500 Christians and Muslims had been sleeping there for several days to escape Israeli air raids near their homes by the sea.

"There were about 290 people when they bombed," he said in a phone conversation with NBC News on Thursday from the church. "We resorted to the church because the church is God’s house, nothing is safe like the church. They bombed God’s house."

He added that there were still "many people" under the rubble who they were still trying to get out.

So far, 18 Palestinian Christians have been killed in what the Jerusalem diocese described as an "Israeli bombing," according to Hamas.

"I have two pregnant women here," Jahshan said. "You have no idea how the bombing affected them physically and psychologically."

The Israeli military said it had targeted a Hamas command center nearby, causing damage to a church wall, according to The Associated Press. 

On what he wanted the world know, Jahshan said he wanted people to know the difference between the Palestinian civilians living in Gaza and the officials that govern it.

"We are peace advocates. We are love advocates," he said. "Please deliver this message. Today, I am living. I don’t know if I am going to live or die," he said.

Hamas announced today that it has released two U.S. hostages it had been holding for nearly two weeks, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.

Read more: 2 Americans held by Hamas have been released

The Israeli military told them to leave the north, so many Palestinians packed up and fled to southern Gaza. 

Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have intensified, following a lull during President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel on Wednesday.

And within hours of him leaving the Ahmed Abdelaziz school in the southern city of Khan Younis, a blast killed at least five and left dozens injured, according to local health officials. Crying children and panicking residents filled the hallways in video filmed at the scene by NBC News. 

One after another, civilians were lifted onto stretchers and loaded into ambulances. Those who weren’t injured improvised first aid for those who were: torn cloth soaked up blood from one man’s wounds, and a piece of wood served as a splint for another’s leg as he was carried into the hospital on a mattress.

The school is among the 183 run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, the agency tasked with supporting Palestinian development since 1949. 

Read more: As Israel-Hamas war rages, a school blast shows people in Gaza have nowhere to run

Thousands of people gathered in major cities today to demonstrate in support of Palestinians. In Jakarta, Indonesia, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Friday prayers ended with marches to major government offices, including U.S. embassies.

Protesters denounced U.S. support for Israel, chanting things like “God is great” and “Save Palestinians.” In Jakarta, some of the demonstrators were seen burning photos of President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Read more: Massive protests seen at U.S. embassies in several countries after Gaza hospital bombing

ASHDOD, Israel — Most of the Israelis who have been held captive by Hamas for the past two weeks are still alive, the Israel Defense Forces are saying.

This is significant because part of the Hamas playbook is to claim that Israelis they have already killed are still alive to increase their value as human bargaining chips.

Relatives of the hundreds of Israelis who remain in Hamas captivity took comfort in each other by welcoming Sabbath together in the presence of a table with more than 200 empty seats — one for each of the hostages.

“The earth trembles beneath us and our loved ones are there," Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau said at the gathering in what's now being called the "Hostages and Missing Plaza" outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. "We came here to send them a blessing of life, and to send you dear families hands of hope, faith, and love. We are a people with nowhere else to go. We are a people who believe that this long journey has a happy ending.”

Tears flowed as Israeli singer Kobi Aflalo sang his songs "Michtav Le’achi (Letter to My Brother)" and "Shir Lama’alot (A Song of Ascents)."

“No one could have imagined such a Kabbalat Shabbat," a representative for the families said. "A simply heartbreaking moment. We hope that next Shabbat we will celebrate together with our loved ones who will return home.”

Israel’s National Cyber Directorate issued an updated urgent warning Friday for all citizens to immediately turn off their internet-connected video cameras.

Many security cameras come preset with minimal cybersecurity and are a common target for hackers who can view or broadcast footage that's uploaded to the internet. 

The warning called especially for Israelis to be careful not to broadcast sensitive areas that might reveal military operations, like roads.