Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday said U.S. efforts to secure the release of further hostages were ongoing after Hamas freed two Americans kidnapped in the group’s surprise attack on Israel.

The two hostages, identified as Judith Tai Raanan and Natalie Shoshana Raanan, were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nahal Oz, a small village near the Israeli border with Gaza that Hamas militants attacked in the initial wave of Oct. 7 violence.

After being held in Gaza for nearly two weeks, the two hostages were released and met by Israeli military personnel at the territory’s border, according to a statement from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.

“The urgent work to free every single American, to free all other hostages, continues, as does our work to secure the safe passage out of Gaza for the Americans that are trapped there,” Blinken said in a State Department briefing.

Ten additional Americans remain unaccounted for, Blinken said, some of whom are held hostage alongside another 200 people from a variety of countries. He thanked the Qatari government for assisting in the release of the hostage but declined to comment on the nature of its involvement.

“From the earliest moments of this attack, we have been working around-the-clock to free American citizens who were taken hostage by Hamas, and we have not ceased our efforts to secure the release of those who are still being held,” President Joe Biden said in a statement, further echoing Blinken’s praise for Qatar.

A Hamas spokesperson said the hostages were released for humanitarian reasons, according to an Associated Press report, but Blinken emphasized he “would not take anything Hamas says at face value.”

Originally from the northern Chicago suburbs, the Raanans were visiting Israel for a relative’s birthday.

Natalie Raanan’s father told the AP on Friday that she’s “doing very good.”

He said he believes Natalie and Judith to be in transit to Tel Aviv to reunite with relatives, and that both will be back in the U.S. early next week.

Their representative in Congress, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), released a statement on Friday welcoming the news.

“The past two weeks have been absolutely horrifying and heartbreaking, but today, we got a message of hope,” she said.

The State Department on Thursday said 32 Americans have been killed in the conflict. Biden on Friday asked Congress to approve a $106 billion package that would include emergency aid to Israel as well as money for Ukraine and the southern U.S. border. But as the House speakership stalemate continues, the fate of any aid remains in the balance.

Former President Donald Trump privately conveyed to allies on Friday he does not back House Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s bid for speaker, throwing another wrench into an already chaotic process to find the next person to hold the gavel.

Trump’s conversations come as Emmer has begun privately expressing his interest in the post. The Minnesota Republican, who has been making calls to fellow lawmakers, has emerged as an early frontrunner, having received the endorsement of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

But a sustained offensive from Trump, if one materializes, could spell doom, as any candidate for the job can only afford to lose a handful of votes.

The former president’s top allies are already working to thwart Emmer’s candidacy. Trump supporters have begun passing around opposition research on the congressmember, and the pro-Trump “War Room” podcast on Friday afternoon turned into an Emmer bash-fest. During an appearance on the program, top Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn noted that Emmer had yet to endorse Trump in the Republican presidential primary.

“If somebody is so out of step with where the Republican electorate is, where the MAGA movement is, how can they even be in the conversation?” Epshteyn said. “We need a MAGA speaker. That’s what it comes down to. Because if you look at the numbers, if you look at the energy, if you look at the heat, this is the Trump party, this is the MAGA party. It is no longer the old-school khaki establishment Republican Party.”

Steve Bannon, a former Trump White House adviser and the “War Room” host, chimed in to call Emmer a “Trump hater.”

Others close to Trump said Emmer as speaker would open a breach between House Republicans and their likely presidential nominee. Emmer “has no relationship with Trump,” one adviser said.

In conversations Friday, Trump made clear he was concerned by the prospect of Emmer in the speaker’s chair, telling people he believed the Minnesota Republican was not a fan, according to two people familiar with those private talks. Trump has complained, they say, that Emmer has not forcefully defended him against the indictments he is facing. He has also pointed to Emmer’s criticism of him following the Trump-inspired Jan. 6 Capitol riot, and reports — which Emmer strenuously denied — that as then-chair of the House GOP campaign arm, he advised Republican candidates to avoid mentioning Trump.

Casey Nelson, communications director in Emmer’s Whip office, disputed the idea that there was friction between the two camps. “As NRCC Chair,” Nelson said, “Whip Emmer worked hand in hand with President Trump to help House Republicans fire Nancy Pelosi and retake the majority. If he becomes Speaker, Whip Emmer looks forward to continuing that productive relationship.”

Trump had previously thrown his support to House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan’s bid for the speakership. But Jordan on Friday saw his bid flame out after House Republicans, on a secret ballot, declined to continue supporting him as their speaker designee. Prior to that, the Ohio Republican had failed on three occasions to get the votes needed to win the speakership. His failed bid followed an aborted run by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and the ousting of McCarthy prior to that.

The tumult has opened the door for other candidates to get into the race. Those seen as possible contenders, other than Emmer, include Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern, Ohio Rep. Mike Johnson and Texas Rep. Jodey Arrington.

LOWELL — The last time U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey were in Lowell, they came bearing a check for $21.4 million in federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding for four Mill City bridges that span canals fed by the mighty Merrimack River.

On Friday, both were at UMass Lowell for an Infrastructure Investment Day event to talk about the $8 billion in federal funding the commonwealth is receiving for infrastructure investments such as roads, bridges, public transportation, climate and clean energy initiatives, among other projects.

“Infrastructure is in part about how we move around,” Warren said by phone before the afternoon meetings. “We have to think ahead. What are our transportation needs? Not from 20 years ago, but 20 years out.”

As the chair of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Economic Policy, Warren led a Senate hearing on the economic impact of federal investments in Massachusetts. The afternoon consisted of three panels broken out by presentations from federal agencies, state leadership and community leaders.

The senators were joined in the first panel discussion by U.S. Department of Energy Undersecretary for Infrastructure Kathleen Hogan and U.S. Department of Transportation Undersecretary of Transportation for Policy Carlos Monje, followed by Gov. Maura Healey and closing with UMass Lowell Chancellor Julie Chen and other state and local leaders.

UML student and Student Body President Anthony Milisci attended the Senate hearing on behalf of the Student Government Association.

The public health major said his main focus was environmental health and clean energy, and that he was “interested in seeing how federal dollars have been impacting our campus specifically, but also the UMass system generally and Massachusetts as a whole.”

Transportation is one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, Monje said, and finding ways to improve accessibility and safety while also decreasing the carbon footprint is a goal of the federal dollars, which Markey called a “revolution in infrastructure investment.”

“Clean energy money,” Markey said. “I know a lot is going to be going to UMass Lowell, but the same thing is going to be happening all across the commonwealth. We’re not just the Bay State, we’re the Brain State,” he said to laughter. “We’re six times smaller than California, but in actual dollars, we compete and that goes into our economy and makes a big difference.”

Gov. Maura Healey testifies before the Infrastructure Investment Day panel chaired by U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, held at UMass Lowell’s University Crossing on Oct. 20. (Melanie Gilbert/Lowell Sun)

Making a difference was the point of Healey’s remarks during the state panel discussion. She said her administration was “chasing hard after these federal dollars” and called the funding of “critical importance to our state’s goals and our future.”

She noted that many of the grants require as much as $3 billion in state matching funds to maximize how much might be awarded. Massachusetts, she said, already has set aside $2 billion.

“As unprecedented as these investments are, there’s still a limited number of federal dollars available,” Healey said. “That means there is fierce competition all across the country to bring these dollars home. Some states put their own funds on the table to combine with federal dollars in order to be competitive to win federal grants.”

Collaboration was the theme of Chen’s remarks during the local impacts hearing testimony. She called partnerships the way to maximize the federal dollars and realize “big things,” citing the university’s geothermal project as an example of that kind of community investment.

“The geothermal project is a great example of a partnership with a company, with the neighborhood, with the city,” she said. “It’s about creating this integrated ecosystem. We can only do big things if we do them together.”

Although no specific projects were presented during the public hearing, general ambitions included clean energy projects, expanding broadband access, rehabbing senior and low-income housing to be climate resilient, clean air, safe water, public safety, research and improvements to roads and bridges.

Senior Advisor to President Biden and White House Infrastructure Implementation Coordinator Mitch Landrieu met privately with a group of mayors to discuss Massachusetts’ infrastructure needs, but spoke briefly to reporters before he flew back to Washington.

“Massachusetts,” he said, “is punching way above its weight, and it’s a pretty heavyweight place, already.”

Warren agreed with his assessment, offering that “Governor Healey and her administration have been strong partners in infrastructure and other projects that received federal funding.”

That funding includes hundreds of millions of federal dollars to replace the Sagamore and Bourne bridges on Cape Cod and nearly $170 million to replace Lowell’s 40-year-old Rourke Bridge.

“One of the things that make this such an exciting moment, is that there’s enough infrastructure money on the table that local communities can dream a little,” Warren said by phone. “They can think about the kind of changes in their local infrastructure that will improve the quality of life for the people who live there.”