Israeli soldiers and special forces police rescued four hostages from Gaza on Saturday amid heavy air and ground attacks and flew them by helicopter back to Israel to be reunited with their families. The news sparked cheers in Israel, where concern is growing over the fate of some 120 remaining captives after eight months of war.
Residents of the town of Nuserat, where the hostages were held, reported heavy bombardment during the rescue operation. Khalil Daklan, an official at a hospital in the city, told reporters that dozens of Palestinians had been killed and that hospital wards and corridors were crowded with the injured.
Israeli military spokesman Maj. Gen. Daniel Hagari told reporters that the rescue mission began around 11 a.m. on Saturday when troops found four hostages in two separate buildings where they were being held by Hamas militants. He said Israeli forces came under fire but managed to rescue the hostages using two helicopters. A special forces policeman died.
The released hostages – Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov, 27 Kozlov, and 41-year-old Shlomi Ziv – were abducted by Palestinian militants attending the Nova music festival on October 7 in a Hamas-led attack in which some 1,200 people were kidnapped. It said people were killed in Israel and 250 people were taken hostage. Israeli authorities said in a statement that the four were in good health and had been transferred to an Israeli hospital for further examination.
The fate of the hostages has put intense political pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been widely criticized for not being eager to end the conflict or resolve the Israeli hostage situation for its own reasons.
In light of the hostage rescue incident, Benny Gantz, a member of Netanyahu’s war cabinet, postponed indefinitely a press conference scheduled for Saturday night, citing “recent events.” Tanyahu refused to discuss post-war plans for Gaza and threatened to leave.
Israeli military spokesman Mr. Hagari said that El Al
In order to enable the Israeli army to safely rescue the hostages, an armed attack was carried out on Nuserat during the rescue process.
“This was a mission in the center of a civilian community where Hamas was deliberately hiding in houses with civilians and armed militants guarding the hostages,” Hagari said.
Video shows bombs raining down and people fleeing. Gaza’s health ministry said ambulance and emergency services in central Gaza were unable to respond to many calls to take the injured to hospitals as streets were clogged with rubble following the airstrikes.
Video shared by the ministry from inside Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital near Nuserat showed chaotic scenes as medical staff struggled to treat bloody victims lying side by side on the floor. Two men held up IV bags as a wounded man with a bandaged face writhed under a blanket.
In the chaos that followed the attack, reports of the number of casualties varied widely. Two Gaza health officials said the attack in Nuserat killed more than 200 people, including women and children. They did not say how many of those killed were militants.
Hagari said based on the information he had seen, the death toll should be “fewer than 100.” Both figures cannot be verified.
Hamas military wing spokesman Abu Obeida posted on Telegram that Israel killed some hostages during a rescue mission on Saturday. His claims could not be independently verified. He also suggested that Hamas take punitive measures against the hostages remaining in Gaza.
News that the hostages had been rescued filled Israel with joy and relief.
Israel’s main television stations switched to live coverage of the rescue and its aftermath, breaking from Shabbat’s typical habit of quiet and pre-recorded programming.
Spontaneous celebrations broke out across the country, with footage of the rally shown on Israeli television. Lifeguards on the beach in Tel Aviv Announcing rescue news According to a social media post, there were cheering sunbathers on the lifeguard tower.
Ms. Agamani’s kidnapping, in particular, became a symbol of the brutality of the October 7 Hamas attack. , Ms. Agamani cried. His fate remains unknown.
Ms Agamani spoke to Mr Netanyahu after her rescue. “I’m very excited, I haven’t heard Hebrew in a long time,” she said in a recording of the call released by the prime minister’s office.
In a recorded statement on video, Ms Agamani’s father, Yaakov Agamani, thanked everyone involved in securing his daughter’s freedom, including Mr Netanyahu.
“But we cannot forget – there are still 120 hostages who must be released,” Mr Agamani said, calling on Israelis to attend weekly rallies in solidarity with Gaza’s remaining hostages. “We must do everything we can to bring them to Israel and return them to their families by any means possible.”
President Biden said in Paris on Saturday that he welcomed the “safe rescue and return of the four hostages to their families in Israel,” adding, “We will not stop working until all hostages are home and a ceasefire is reached, and that is Necessary conditions for this to happen. Biden made the speech after meeting with French President Macron.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant praised the “complex operation” carried out by Israeli soldiers, special forces and intelligence personnel, saying they “acted with extraordinary courage under heavy fire.”
Hagari said Israeli intelligence officials worked for weeks trying to put the pieces needed for the operation into place. Final approval was given Saturday morning by Chief of Military Staff Herzi Halevi, as well as by the head of Israel’s domestic intelligence service.
An Israeli police spokesman said that the Israeli police special force “Yamam” was also involved. One of its members, Chief Inspector Arnon Zamora, was seriously injured during the fighting and later died of his injuries.
The United States also played a role. A team of American hostage rescue officers stationed in Israel is assisting the Israeli military in the operation by providing intelligence and other support, a U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing operation.
The last successful raid to free hostages was in February, when Israeli special operations forces raided a building in the southern Gaza city of Rafah and freed two hostages held by Hamas.
The first hostage to be survived by Israeli security forces was Pvt. Ori Megedish, a soldier. Her rescue came in late October, three weeks after the Hamas-led attack and days after Israel began a full-scale ground invasion of northern Gaza. Private Megedish, then 19, was abducted from the Nahal Oz military base on Israel’s border with Gaza, where she was working as a field observer.
While Saturday’s release of the hostages is cause for celebration, freeing all 120 hostages appears unlikely. This appears to require a political solution, which Secretary of State Antony Blinken will seek to achieve when he visits the Middle East in the coming days.
The secretary of state is expected to push for a plan that calls for a temporary ceasefire that would lead to a permanent truce, the release of hostages and an eventual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
The trip, which will include Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Qatar, will be Blinken’s eighth trip to the region since the conflict began. The U.S. State Department said in a statement on Friday that Blinken would press for an agreement on a ceasefire proposal that would “ease suffering in Gaza, allow for a significant increase in humanitarian assistance and allow Palestinians to return to their communities.”
Isabel Kershner and Adam Rasgon Contributing reporting from Jerusalem, Yara Bayoumi from london and Michael D. Schell From Paris.
