An NBC journalist expressed relief on Friday after Hamas released two of his relatives that the terrorist group had taken hostage.
"The fact that it actually happened is a miracle," said Martin Fletcher, a longtime NBC correspondent covering the Middle East, during an appearance on MSNBC. "Obviously, a huge sigh of relief."
Just the night before, Fletcher broke down on air as he revealed that two of his relatives were among the hundreds of hostages taken by Hamas into Gaza.
The family members, whom Fletcher described as his "cousin's son's wife's family," are Judith Raanan and her daughter, Natalie, 17, from Illinois. They were in the country for a relative's birthday on October 7 when they were last seen being dragged away by Hamas terrorists.
"It's personal, it's real, and nobody is really confident that it's possible to get them back alive. Of course, everybody's hoping," Fletcher said on Thursday.
Hamas freed the two hostages on Friday for what it said were "humanitarian reasons."
Fletcher's appearances on MSNBC come as the network has faced criticism for its coverage of the conflict, with the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League taking the network to task for repeating Hamas's talking points.