Two more hostages who were kidnapped by Palestinian Islamic terrorists two weeks ago have been released by their captors.

The families of Nurit Cooper, 79, and Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, were notified that both women were released by Hamas. Their husbands are still being held hostage.

They have reportedly been handed over to the Red Cross.

Joe Truzman, a research analyst for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) focused on Palestinian armed groups, said that Hamas’ claims that it released the hostages for humanitarian reasons were bogus.

“It’s simply a tactic to create international pressure on Israel to delay a ground incursion into Gaza,” he said.

Hamas says it has released two hostages. The group also says the hostages were released due to humanitarian reasons. While this may sound like a credible excuse, it's not. It's simply a tactic to create international pressure on Israel to delay a ground incursion into Gaza.

— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) October 23, 2023

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller suggested that Hamas did not get anything in return for the release of the hostages.

“As far as I’m aware, Hamas is not getting anything in return for the release of these hostages…we have not released any prisoners, the government of Israel has not released any prisoners, I’m not aware of any release of any prisoners,” he said.

What is Hamas getting? @Statedeptspox: "As far as I’m aware, Hamas is not getting anything in return for the release of these hostages…we have not released any prisoners, the government of Israel has not released any prisoners, I'm not aware of any release of any prisoners.”

— Olivia Gazis (@Olivia_Gazis) October 23, 2023

This is a breaking news story; refresh the page for updates. 

A grieving husband whose wife was murdered by their 23-year-old daughter is pleading with the court to reconsider the life sentence.

Steven Powell wrote in a September letter to the Summit County Court of Common Pleas – which is just now being reported – that his murdered wife, Brenda, wouldn’t want their daughter, Sydney, to be sentenced to life in prison for her murder, according to Insider. Steven said Brenda wouldn’t have wanted this even though she was killed violently.

“Through our 24 years of marriage that we all know was cut short in March of 2020, to this day, I can confirm with a 100% degree of certainty that this is not, what people are saying, is justice for Brenda Powell,” Steven wrote in the letter. “I believe that since there can never be true justice in this case, Sydney’s mental health should be our main priority.”

Steven asked Ohio judge Kelly McLaughlin to consider a more lenient sentence for Sydney.

Other members of Steven’s family also wrote character letters for Sydney, saying much the same. Members of the community who knew the family, including a doctor who worked with Brenda, also wrote letters calling for a lenient sentence. Brenda was a child life specialist at Akron Children’s Hospital.

Sydney killed her mother in 2020 after learning she was being kicked out of the University of Mount Union in Alliance, Ohio, due to failing grades. Brenda was on the phone with university officials, so Sydney hit her mother with an iron skillet and then stabbed her 30 times in the neck, NBC News reported. The university officials called the Akron police once they heard screaming.

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“The phone cut off at some point after, I would say, somewhere in the neighborhood of six or seven of those thudding, those sort of thud sounds, and the screaming had continued,” Associate Dean of Students Michelle Gaffney testified at Sydney’s trial in September.

University officials kept trying to call the house back until a woman picked up the phone claiming to be Brenda.

“The voice on the other ends said, ‘Yes, this is Brenda. Yes, this is Brenda,'” Gaffney said at the trial. “It was not Brenda. I was sure it was Sydney. Both Dean [of Students John] Frazier and I looked at each other and sort of shook our heads at each other and said that’s not Brenda. He then said, ‘Sydney, I think this is you, this is not Brenda.’ The phone went dead.”

Following her arrest, Sydney was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

She was found guilty in September of murder, assault, and tampering with evidence. She was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.