The Israeli military has carried out a remarkable rescue operation, in which four hostages held captive by Hamas in Gaza were freed. The operation, described as one of the most complex in Israel’s history, was carried out on Saturday, according to a spokesperson from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). The freed hostages are Noa Argamani (25), Almog Meir Jan (21), Andrey Kozlov (27), and Shlomi Ziv (40). They were all kidnapped during a terrorist attack at the Nova Festival in southern Israel on October 7th last year.
According to IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari, the rescue operation was extremely complicated as the hostages were held in al-Nuseirat, a densely populated refugee camp in Gaza. They were spread between two different apartments, guarded by armed individuals. The three men were held together, while Noa Argamani was isolated about 200 meters away from the others. The rescue operation took place in daylight to surprise the Hamas terrorists. Several hundred soldiers participated in the action, protecting special forces who entered the apartments to rescue the hostages.
This operation was carried out despite the increased risks posed by daylight, and the terrorists began to shoot at the Israelis as they left the scene with the hostages. An Israeli soldier was injured during the operation, but the four freed hostages were reunited with their families and are physically well. Despite this success, there are still 116 hostages remaining in Gaza, according to Israeli estimates. Over 40 of them are presumed to be deceased.
Among the remaining hostages is the Danish-Israeli citizen Itzik Elgarat, whom Hamas has previously declared dead, but this has not yet been confirmed by Israeli authorities. The terrorist attack on October 7th last year claimed the lives of more than 1,200 people and led to over 250 individuals being taken as hostages.