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Israeli army rescues 4 Gaza hostages

Noa Argamani, Shlomi Ziv, Almog Meir and Andrey Kozlov have been released by the IDF after 8 months of captivity in the Gaza Strip

Israel bombs Syria after attack on the Golan Heights

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Una mujer cuelga flores sobre un muro con retratos de israelíes cautivos de Hamás en Gaza el 12 de febrero de 2024 en el centro de Jerusalén - PHOTO/AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP
Una mujer cuelga flores sobre un muro con retratos de israelíes cautivos de Hamás en Gaza el 12 de febrero de 2024 en el centro de Jerusalén - PHOTO/AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP
Margarita Arredondas
Updated: 10/06/24

The Israel Defence Forces have managed to rescue four hostages held since 7 October in the largest operation of its kind since the war began.

Noa Argamani (26), Shlomi Ziv (40), Almog Meir (21) and Andrey Kozlov (27) were kidnapped by Hamas during the attack on the Nova music festival, one of the biggest massacres committed by the terrorist group on that fateful day. At that festival alone, it is estimated that more than 300 people were killed and 40 taken hostage.

The rescue operation was carried out in broad daylight in the Gaza town of Nuseirat and involved officers from the police's elite Yamam counter-terrorism unit and members of the Shin Bet, who simultaneously raided two Hamas buildings in the town, located in central Gaza.

According to an IDF statement, hundreds of soldiers took part in the operation, noting that the hostages were rescued by special forces while ‘under fire’. One Yamam officer, Arnon Zamora, was seriously wounded in the operation and later died in an Israeli hospital.

During the ground operation, heavy air strikes were also carried out in the area against Hamas targets and in support of ground troops. Health authorities in Gaza, controlled by the terrorist group, reported that at least 50 Palestinians were killed, without indicating how many of them were fighters.

The rescued hostages, who had been held captive in Gaza for eight months, were in good condition, according to initial medical assessments. The four were flown by helicopter from the Palestinian enclave to hospitals in Israel for further assessment.

Nuseirat is one of the few areas in Gaza where ground troops had not yet operated during the Israeli offensive against Hamas. Army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the rescue had been underway for ‘many weeks’, with ‘quality intelligence and complex operational planning’. 

This is the third successful operation of its kind since 7 October. The first was the rescue of Private Ori Megidish in late October. In early December the IDF attempted to rescue another hostage, but he was killed. Then, in February, hostages Fernando Marman, 61, and Louis Har, 70, were rescued from Rafah in southern Gaza.

As The Times of Israel notes, all the hostages rescued by the IDF from Gaza, including the last four, were rescued from buildings, not tunnels.

The four rescued include Noa Argamani, who was abducted by several men on a motorbike from the festival to Gaza, as a video from that morning shows. The 27-year-old subsequently appeared in Hamas propaganda videos. 

Argamani's case has particularly shocked Israeli society as her cancer-stricken mother has repeatedly called for her release so that she could see her at least one more time. 

After this latest rescue, it is estimated that some 116 hostages are still in Gaza, although not all of them are alive.

Tags:
Gaza Israel Hamas
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