Four Israeli Hostages Freed In Raid In Central Gaza
Four Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas from the Nova music festival during the group’s 7 October attacks have been rescued in a daylight raid deep in central Gaza.
Noa Argamani, 25, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrei Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 40, were freed during a “high-risk, complex mission” from two separate buildings in the Nuseirat area, the Israel Defense Forces said.
The released hostages are in good medical condition and have been transferred to the ‘Sheba’ Tel-HaShomer Medical Center for further medical examinations, the IDF added.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says dozens of people, including children, have been killed and injured in the operation, with images and footage also showing significant numbers of casualties.
Staff at the Al-Aqsa hospital are said to be struggling to treat the casualties.
“Dozens of injured people are lying on the ground and medical teams are trying to save them with the simple medical capabilities they have,” the ministry said on Facebook.
‘Precise intelligence’
The rare rescue of hostages – a joint operation conducted by the IDF, Israel Security Agency and Israel Police – comes eight months into war with Hamas in Gaza.
IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said the mission was based on “precise” intelligence and that Israeli forces came under fire during the operation.
Argamani, a Chinese-born Israeli citizen, was kidnapped from the Nova festival and harrowing video footage from 7 October showed the 25-year-old being taken away on the back of a motorbike screaming, “Don’t kill me!”
Fresh video of Argamani being reunited with her father, smiling and embracing him on board a vehicle, was broadcast soon after news of the rescue operation on Saturday.
