Hear
TEL AVIV.- In the largest rescue operation since the current war with Hamas began, eight months ago, the Israeli Army released four hostages this Saturday in a “difficult” mission in the Gaza Strip, and announced that they were all in “good condition” of health.
Noa Argamani26 years old; Almog Meir Jan22; Andrey Kozlov27, and Shlomi Ziv40, were kidnapped in the brutal assault on October 7 by Hamas terrorist commandos during the Nova electronic music festival, in southern Israel, and taken to the Palestinian enclave.
The hostages They were rescued at two different points by Nuseiratin the center of the Gaza Strip, the Army announced after the operation, a maneuver in which one agent died and which, according to Hamas, left 210 Palestinians dead.
This is what is known about the four rescued.
Student at Ben Gurion University, Argamani’s kidnapping was recorded when she was being taken away on a motorcycle. The video of the young woman screaming “Do not kill me!” While they put her on the vehicle she went around the world.
Since then he appeared in multiple Hamas videos during his captivity, uploaded to social networks, in which she was seen drinking water from a bottle. They were published as part of their continuing psychological warfare campaign.
Before his release, Argamani’s mother, who is Chinese-Israeli and suffers from terminal cancer, posted several messages to express your desperation faced with the prospect of dying without seeing his daughter again.
In an attempt to ensure her return, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked China for its support in December, since Noa’s mother is from that country.
Argamani’s boyfriend, Avinatan Or, a 30-year-old engineer, remains kidnapped.
Kozlov, a Russian-Israeli citizen, was kidnapped while working as security guard in the festival.
When the Hamas attack began, he contacted his father and friends, to whom he told that he had nowhere to hide.
His family was informed weeks later that Kozlov was among the hostages captured by Hamas.
Born in Saint Petersburg (Russia), He had recently emigrated to Israel and lived in Rishon Lezion, south of Tel Aviv. The Russian government had called in a statement last January for his release, as well as that of two other nationals also kidnapped.
“The Russian side stressed the need for the immediate release of civilians, including three Russian citizens, Andrey Kozlov, Alexander Lobanov and Alexander Trufanov, “who were kidnapped in the attacks of October 7, 2023 and have been in the hands of Palestinian groups since then,” said the Russian Foreign Ministry.
His state of health after the rescue was stable, and was transferred like the others for further medical examinations to the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer.
Ziv, who spent his 40th birthday in captivity, He was also part of the security team at the Nova festival.
Ziv managed to speak to one of his sisters on the day of the attack, at 7:30, and informed her that he was fine, who was trying to flee in a vehicle, but there was a traffic jam at the festival exit area.
A little later, in his last call before being kidnapped, he spoke with another of his sisters, to whom he told that he was almost out of breath and that he would call again.
Ziv lives with his wife, Meran, in the city of Elkosh, on the Lebanese border, and usually worked as a wholesale distributor. and had been employed at the festival along with two friends, who died in the attack.
“No one saw anything or heard anything,” Meran told the local media. Yediot Aharonot shortly after. “We talked to the security guards… whoever we could. I was at home and went out to watch from the balcony. What if maybe he had come home and was sitting there waiting for me?”
“I spent the nights without sleeping, without eating,” the woman continued. “One night I sat waiting for him outside, where he liked to sit, until dawn. I even imagined him entering the house.”
Meir Jan is originally from Or Yehuda, a city east of Tel Aviv, and I was enjoying the holidays when Hamas commandos stormed southern Israel.
Shortly before 8 o’clock on October 7, he called his mother, Orit Meir, and said: “Mom, turn on the television. The Army has closed the party. There are rockets from all directions and they are shooting at us. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ll try to call you every half hour. Mom, I love you.”
After that call, his sister immediately shared his photo on social media, looking for any sign that he was still alive. Around noon, a friend called her mother, crying, saying he had seen a video of Almog with four other hostages. Upon seeing the videos posted by Hamas, Orit recognized him immediately.
“I was lying on the ground, I was terrified,” described the woman, who in November told the press that her life had become a “nightmare.”
Agencies AFP, AP and Reuters
THE NATION
