Hamas has freed two American hostages for “humanitarian reasons” the militant group said, after its atrocities in Israel brought on widespread global condemnations.

Hamas armed wing spokesman Abu Ubaida issued a statement announcing the release, the first since Hamas gunmen burst into Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,400 people, mainly civilians, and taking around 200 hostages. Some of the kidnapped Israelis are babies and small children whose exact fate remains unknown.

Ubaida said that the move was also intended to “send a message” to US President Joe Biden, who has staunchly supported Israel in the conflict. He stated that “the hostages were released in response to Qatari mediation efforts, "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".

Israel's Channel 13 News said Israel had confirmed the release of two hostages. An Israeli army statement earlier in the day said most of the hostages were alive.

The Hamas moves comes as Israel is ready to execute a ground offensive into Gaza with the stated aim of wiping out Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister’s adviser Mark Regev said, "So our working assumption has to be that they are waiting for us. That they are prepared for an Israeli assault. And our challenge will be to surprise them tactically on the ground, to catch them unaware."

As Israel has carried out nearly two weeks of a harsh bombing campaign before its ground operation, at least 4,137 Palestinians have been killed, including hundreds of children, and 13,000 wounded in Gaza, the Palestinian health ministry said.