DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel carried out its largest hostage rescue operation since the latest war with Hamas began on Saturday, bringing four of them to safety in central Gaza amid intense air and ground military attack. At least 94 dead Palestinians, including children, were taken to local hospitals, a health official said.
Israelis were jubilant when the army said it had freed Noa Argamani, 26; Almog Meir Jan, 22; Andrey Kozlov, 27; and Shlomi Ziv, 41, in a daylight operation in the heart of Nuseirat, in which two places were raided at once while under fire. Everyone was fine, according to the military. They were transported by helicopter to undergo medical check-ups and tearfully reunite with their loved ones after 246 days held.
Argamani had been one of the best-known hostages after being kidnapped, like the other three, at a music festival. The video of her kidnapping showed her sitting between two men on a motorcycle while she screamed: Don’t kill me!
Her mother, Liora, suffers from brain cancer and had posted a video in which she begged to see her daughter before she died. Israel’s Channel 13 said Argamani was taken to the hospital where her mother is being treated. Her father, Yaakov, had a birthday on Saturday. I never thought he would receive a gift like this, he declared.
In a video message released by the government, an elated Argamani told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone that he was very excited, saying he had not heard Hebrew in so long.
In a statement, Netanyahu vowed to continue the fight until all the hostages were freed. The operation was bold in nature, brilliantly planned and extraordinarily executed, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said.
Israeli planes buzzed overhead as the bodies of nearly 100 dead Palestinians were taken to Al-Aqsa hospital, where spokesman Khalil Degran told The Associated Press that more than 100 wounded had also arrived. AP reporters saw dozens of bodies brought in from the Nuseirat and Deir al-Balah areas, as smoke rose in the distance and armored vehicles passed by.
Among the dead was a baby. Little children were crying covered in blood. They placed bodies on the ground, barefoot, while more wounded arrived.
“My two cousins died and two others were seriously injured. They did not commit any sin. They were sitting at home,” said a relative amid the chaos. As Palestinians explored the newly destroyed buildings, a small child sat on a collapsed metal door, overwhelmed.
Neighboring Egypt strongly condemned Israel’s attacks on the Nuseirat refugee camp, with its Foreign Ministry calling them a flagrant violation of all norms of international law. Jordan, a neighboring country, also condemned it.
The Israeli army said it had attacked threats to our forces in the area, adding that one commando died from his wounds.
An American hostage cell provided advice and support throughout the process of locating and rescuing the hostages, according to a Biden administration official, who was not authorized to comment and requested anonymity. Hostage cells are multi-institutional teams.
We will not stop working until all the hostages return home and a ceasefire is reached, declared US President Joe Biden.
Hamas took about 250 hostages during the Oct. 7 attack that killed about 1,200 people. About half were freed in a week-long ceasefire in November. About 120 hostages remain, 43 of whom have died. Among the survivors are about 15 women, two children under 5 years old and two men over 80 years old.
Saturday’s operation brought the total number of hostages rescued to seven. Two were released in February and another after the October attack. Israeli troops have recovered the bodies of at least 16 others, according to the government.
The latest rescue was expected to lift spirits in Israel, as divisions sharpen over the best way to bring the hostages home. Many Israelis are urging Netanyahu to accept the ceasefire deal announced by Biden last month, but his far-right allies are threatening to topple his government if he does. Netanyahu, whose support has fallen, rushed to the hospital to greet the freed hostages.
It was unclear what effect it might have on the apparently stalled ceasefire efforts. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will return to the Middle East next week, seeking a breakthrough.
The hostage release and ceasefire agreement now on the table would guarantee the release of all remaining hostages along with security guarantees for Israel and relief for innocent civilians in Gaza, national security adviser Jake said in a statement. Sullivan.
International pressure is mounting on Israel to limit civilian bloodshed in its Gaza war, which on Friday entered its eighth month with more than 36,700 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Palestinians are also suffering from widespread hunger because fighting and Israeli restrictions have largely cut off the flow of aid.
Israel is stepping up operations in central Gaza, where the hostages were rescued. On Thursday, an Israeli airstrike hit a UN-run school complex in Nuseirat, killing more than 33 people inside, including three women and nine children.
Israel claimed there were about 30 militants inside and on Friday released the names of 17 of those it said had been killed. However, only nine of them matched the hospital morgue records. One of the alleged militants was an 8-year-old boy, according to hospital records.
The Israeli military claimed Saturday that Hamas is a terrorist organization that often uses false documents disguising terrorists as women or children.
Meanwhile, Benny Gantz, a popular centrist member of Israel’s three-member War Cabinet who had threatened to resign from the government if it did not adopt a new plan by Saturday for the war in Gaza, postponed an expected announcement.
Mednick and Jeffrey reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.
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