When four Israelis woke up in Gaza on Saturday, they had been held hostage by Hamas for 245 days. The buildings they were in were two low-rise concrete apartment buildings that looked much like other homes in a nearby civilian neighborhood filled with Palestinian families.
Within hours, three captives, a man and a woman, will be reunited with their families, the result of a dangerous, long-planned rescue operation that will use the full force of the Israeli military to causing devastating consequences.
“I’m very excited,” hostage Noa Argamani, 26, told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call after his release. “I haven’t heard Hebrew in a long time.”
The Israeli military said the rescue effort in Nuserat involved hundreds of intelligence officers and two commandos who simultaneously raided the houses where the hostages were being held.
A firefight broke out between soldiers and Hamas guards in an apartment where male hostages were being held, according to video of the exchange released by the military. Then, amid a burst of gunfire, the truck transporting the three hostages and a wounded Israeli officer broke down and was surrounded by militants, Israeli officials said.
The military said the air force began attacking dozens of nearby targets to give rescuers enough time and adequate cover to free the captives. Many Palestinians only became aware of the fighting when they heard bombs going off.
Dozens of locals, including children, died during the rescue operation. Health authorities in Hamas-controlled areas put the death toll at more than 270.
guide
Weeks before the attack, Israeli intelligence officials discovered two buildings about 600 feet apart where they believed the hostages were being held.
In May, Israeli intelligence officials determined that Ms. Agamani was being held in a family apartment near the Nuserat market, said Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. The woman was captured by armed men at a music festival and the video was widely shared. Three hostages were held in an apartment nearby: Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Andrey Kozlov, 41 Shlomi Ziv.
According to the Israeli military, the home where the men are being held belongs to Abdullah Al-Gamal. Al-Gamal’s death was confirmed on Sunday by the Gaza government media office, which said he had worked for the Hamas-affiliated Palestinian News Agency.
“We decided to target two apartments because if we only chose one of them, the risk of terrorists killing the hostages in the other apartment would be too high,” Gen. Hagari said.
Gen. Hagari said that in preparation for the mission, the military “built models of these houses for practice,” adding that coordination between the two groups had to be “as precise as brain operations” lest one group Leaders make mistakes that cause problems for the other party.
raid
On Saturday morning, as the sun neared its midday peak, Nuserat residents left the heat of their apartment complex behind. Outside, they go to work, shop at the market, and visit family.
“This is normal, the streets are full of life, people are buying and selling things,” said Bayan Khaled abu Amr, 32, who had left home that morning to visit her uncle.
Fifty miles away, Israeli officers crowded into the Tel Aviv command room of the Shin Bet, Israel’s security agency. “The tension in the air is very, very high,” Admiral Hagari said.
At around 11 a.m., the military chief of staff, General Herzi Halevi, shouted the word “go”, authorizing commandos from Israel’s YAMAM counterterrorism unit to begin the attack.
Israeli officials said soldiers from the unit activated two vehicles that looked like local trucks and headed to each building where hostages were being held.
Shop owner Khalil abdul Qader al-Tahrawi, 60, said he was sitting outside his shop when he saw a man wearing a shirt belonging to the militant al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas. Qassam Brigades uniforms were approaching the building where the three men were staying.
He said the group struck him as “suspicious and strange,” especially because they “climbed the building with ladders and pointed guns everywhere.” He said he believed they were Israeli commandos.
Other witnesses also described men they believed to be Israeli special forces operators, but wearing civilian clothes.
Israeli officials declined to say whether Israeli troops wore camouflage during the attack.
Shortly after General Halevi authorized the operation, troops attacked both buildings simultaneously. Israeli officials said Ms Agamani was kept in a locked room and her captors were quickly killed before they realized what was happening.
“In Noah Agamani’s building,” Gen. Hagari said, “our troops took them by complete surprise.”
escape
Gen. Hagari said that just as the team sent to rescue Agamani was driving her to a helicopter evacuation point on Gaza’s Mediterranean coast, a fire started in another building rescuing three men.
That’s when Arnon Zmora, a 36-year-old officer in the YAMAM unit, was shot and wounded, according to Gen. Hagari. Body-worn camera footage released by Israeli border police showed Israeli troops finding male hostages inside a residential building, although they continued to exchange gunfire with militants off-screen.
In footage edited to blur the soldiers’ faces and eliminate bloody images, the hostages are seen leaving the building and crawling through a wooded clearing as gunfire erupts around them.
“Hamas members shot at them,” said Mr. Tahrawi, the shop owner.
Gen. Hagari said more militants had joined the fight and were “running through the streets with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs),” short for rocket-propelled grenades. “There’s a lot of fire around us,” he said.
According to Israeli officials, as Ms. Agamani was approaching the beach in a vehicle, another truck used for the rescue broke down. To provide cover for the stalled truck, the Air Force began bombing nearby areas, effectively creating a fire barrier, officials said.
“Suddenly, I heard the sound of loud bombs and some missiles coming from around the mosque,” said Ms. Abu Amr, who was out visiting her uncle. “I can’t remember the exact time, but it was probably 11:20 a.m.”
“A loud, loud missile was heard again and gray smoke rose,” Ms Abu Amrul added. “People started shouting.” In the chaos caused by the explosion, she said, “children were screaming; women were falling down while running.
Israeli officials said Israeli ground forces stationed nearby found the crippled truck and transferred the hostages and wounded officer Chief Inspector Zmola to another vehicle.
From there, they sped to the beach, where the second of two helicopters was waiting for them. The first plane had taken off and Ms. Agamani was on board.
Video released by the military showed soldiers taking hostages along the beach as helicopters kicked up dust.
aftermath
“We call the hostages diamonds, so we say we have diamonds in our hands,” Gen. Hagari said.
Chief Inspector Zmora was evacuated to an Israeli hospital, where he later died of his injuries.
Corridors and corridors of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, the last major medical center in central Gaza, remained “overcrowded” with new patients on Sunday, where more than 100 bodies were brought on Saturday. Khalil Daqran, hospital official. Most of the bodies had been buried or claimed by relatives, he added.
Dr. Abdelkarim al-Harazin, a 28-year-old doctor, said the medical facility, which had been packed with people before the Israeli rescue operation near Nuserat, was now overcrowded. .
Gaza’s health ministry said as many as 700 people were injured.
Aaron Boxerman and Adam Rasgon Contributed reporting.
