Israeli military rescues four hostages alive from Gaza
Israel’s military rescued four hostages held in central Gaza on Saturday, in a complex daytime operation that jolted the war effort, ceasefire talks and Israeli politics.
Israel’s military said it rescued four hostages held in central Gaza on Saturday, in a complex daytime operation that jolted the war effort, ceasefire talks and Israeli politics.
The four were held in two separate locations in the heart of the Nuseirat section of central Gaza, the military said, after being kidnapped from the Nova musical festival in Israel on October 7.
Noa Argamani, 26, rescued in Saturday’s operation, was shown in one of the first images of the Hamas-led raid into southern Israel as a clip of her kidnapping circulated on social media.
In a single hours-long effort on Saturday morning local time, Israel rescued more hostages alive than it had during the entire previous eight months of the war, bringing the total freed by military operations to seven.
The result was an immediate boost for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose chief rival, Benny Gantz, postponed an expected resignation from the wartime unity government.
Along with Ms Argamani, Israel named Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrei Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41, as the rescued hostages. Israel said they were in good medical condition and had been taken to Israel’s most renowned hospital, Sheba Medical Centre, for evaluation.
Residents in Gaza reported sudden explosions in Nuseirat shortly before noon on Saturday.
Witnesses said they saw large plumes of smoke and heard loud noises, among widespread confusion.
Saturday’s operation involved forces from Israel’s military, Israel’s internal security force, known as the Shin Bet, and police hostage-rescue units. The military said its army, navy and air force provided cover for the rescue team.
“It was a daring operation in the light of day,” said Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military’s chief spokesperson. He said the rescue required several weeks of planning with several intelligence sources.
“Intelligence for this operation was very complicated to obtain,” he said.
At 11am. Israel’s military chief Herzi Halevi and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar gave the final approval for the operation, Rear Adm Hagari said.
Shortly after, Israeli forces simultaneously entered two buildings in Nuseirat, where the four hostages were spread, Rear Adm Hagari said.
Armed militants guarded the hostages in locations embedded within an area flush with civilians. The Israeli air force and Southern Command provided air cover. One Israeli police commando was injured in the raid, according to Rear Adm Hagari.
Israel’s hostage-rescue operations in Gaza have been risky, and Israel’s military has said that previous rescue attempts killed at least one hostage, 25-year-old Sahar Baruch.
Both Mr Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog called Argamani, who according to the Israeli military was flown separately from the other hostages.
Mr Netanyahu told her “not for a moment did we give up on you,” while Mr Herzog told her that “it just brings tears to my eyes” to speak with her, according to transcripts released on Saturday.
“We are overjoyed to have you home,” wrote Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on X, following the operation. “We will keep fighting until 120 hostages are home.”
Families of the hostages in Gaza asked the Netanyahu government and Hamas to keep working on the return of those still held captive.
“With the joy that is washing over Israel, the Israeli government must remember its commitment to bring back all 120 hostages still held by Hamas — the living for rehabilitation, the murdered for burial. We continue to call upon the international community to apply the necessary pressure on Hamas to accept the proposed deal and release the other 120 hostages held in captivity; every day there is a day too far,” said the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an advocacy group.
The Al Nuseirat refugee camp is the third largest in the Palestinian territories, a warren of apartment buildings and villas that was densely packed before the war and swelled with displaced people in recent weeks. Gaza’s refugee camps were formed after the 1948 war with Israel and have become permanent neighbourhoods and cities in the ensuing years.
Palestinians reported sudden explosions in Nuseirat shortly before noon on Saturday. Witnesses said they saw large plumes of smoke and heard loud noises, amid widespread confusion.
Osama Humaid, 36, said he heard loud explosions and saw heavy black smoke around 11:30am. “I’m trapped now in my buildings,” he said, “I don’t know what to do.”
Analysts said that Saturday’s raid would bolster support for Israel’s government and the war, as public trust in both is flagging.
“This is a strategic moment,” said Yossi Shain, a political scientist at Tel Aviv University and former parliamentarian. Saturday’s rescue “will lift the spirit of Israelis, it will strengthen the government, it will change the momentum and determination to continue the war”, he said.
(AFP reported Hamas’s government media office said at least 210 people were killed and 400 wounded on Saturday in Israeli attacks on a central Gaza camp from which four hostages were rescued.)
The Wall Street Journal
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