The Israeli army announced this Saturday that it freed four hostages in a special rescue operation in the Nuseirat refugee camp, in the center of the Gaza Strip. The operation left a balance of at At least 210 Gazans killed and more than 400 injuredaccording to the Islamist group Hamas in a statement.
Those rescued are in good health, they were treated at the Sheba Medical Center, in the Tel Aviv area, where they were reunited with their families and even the prime minister came to visit them, Benjamin Netanyahu. “Israel does not surrender to terrorism and acts with creativity and unlimited courage to bring our kidnapped people home”stated the Israeli premier, in an attempt to justify his efforts to maintain military pressure against Hamas instead of negotiating a truce agreement and release of hostages, as the families demand.
Army spokesman Daniel Hagari, indicated that it was one of the most complex operations in the context of the war. The mission was approved by Netanyahu on Thursday, although the order to attack two buildings in the center of the camp was given this Saturday. “The decision to attack both simultaneously was due to the possibility that Hamas killed the hostages after identifying the rescue operation,” he said.
Hagari too He admitted that many Palestinian civilians were killed in the operation, although he blamed members of the Islamist group for holding hostages in a civilian environment. and accused them of attacking the vehicle where the hostages and the wounded agent were being taken, in addition to launching anti-aircraft missiles against the Israeli helicopters.
The objectives of the operation
With this rescue, of the 251 kidnapped eight months ago, 116 captives remain in the Palestinian territory, at least 40 of them dead according to Israel. The last time that Israeli troops rescued captives alive was in February in Rafah, to the Argentine-Israelis Luis Norberto Har and Fernando Marman. Those recently released are Noa Argamani, 25 years old; Almog Meir Jan, 21; Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 40, who were kidnapped by Hamas at the ‘Nova’ music festival on October 7.
Argamani is a student at Ben Gurion University. A video of the young woman screaming at the exit of the festival “Do not kill me!”, while being loaded onto a motorcycle by Hamas fighters, went around the world. Before her release, her mother had posted several messages to express the despair she had at the possibility of dying without seeing her daughter again.
Kozlov, a Russian-Israeli citizen, was kidnapped while working as a security guard at the event. After the start of the attack by the Islamist group He contacted his father and his friends, and told them that there was nowhere to hide. His family was informed weeks later that Kozlov was part of those kidnapped.
Ziv, who served 41 years in captivity, was also part of the festival’s security team, according to the Israeli press. Ziv managed to speak with one of her sisters on the day of the attack and told her that she was fine, trying to escape in a vehicle, but that there was a traffic jam in the exit area of the party. A little later, in his last call before being kidnapped, he spoke with another of his sisters, who reported that the man was almost out of breath and told him: “I’ll call you.”
Meir Jan He was enjoying the party when Hamas commandos burst in. Shortly before eight in the morning she called her mother, Orit Meir, and said: “Mom, there are rockets falling everywhere. I don’t know what’s happening. I love you, mom”. Shortly after the attack, the combatants released a video in which Orit Meir recognized his son. “He was lying on the ground. He was terrified,” described the woman, who in November told the press that her life had become a nightmare.
The Forum of Families of Hostages and Abductees described the rescue as a miraculous triumph, although it remains firm in its demand that Netanyahu’s government reach an agreement with Hamas for the release of all captives. “Now, with the joy that floods Israel, the Israeli Government must remember its commitment to recover the hostages still being held by Hamas: those who live for their rehabilitation, those murdered for their burial,” the Forum demanded in a note.
More than 200 dead
Meanwhile, Gazan authorities indicated in a statement that at least 210 people were killed and more than 400 injured in the Israeli attack. “We condemn the aggression of the Israeli occupation against civilians, children and women, and against safe homes in the Nuseirat camp,” they said.
Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Al Qasam Brigades –the armed wing of Hamas–, said in a statement that other kidnapped people who were in the area died in the operation. “The enemy managed to free some of their captives by committing horrible massacres, but at the same time killed some of them during the operation”, he stressed. “What the Zionist enemy did in the Nuseirat area is an aggravated war crime, and the first people harmed by it are their captives. The operation will pose great danger to the enemy’s captives and will have a negative impact on their conditions and lives “said the spokesperson.
“The bloodbath must end”
The president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), Mahmoud Abbas requested an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the repercussions of the Israeli operation, which he called a bloody massacre. “President Abbas is maintaining extensive contacts with relevant Arab and international parties to hold this emergency session of the UN Security Council, in order to determine the role assigned to him in stopping the continued Israeli aggression against our Palestinian people. and force the occupying State to adhere to international resolutions, which demand an immediate ceasefire,” reported an official statement from the presidency.
The High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, accepted with relief the release of the four hostages in Nuseirat, while condemning the death of Palestinian civilians under Israeli fire during the rescue mission. “Reports from Gaza of another massacre of civilians are appalling. We condemn this in the strongest terms,” he said on his X social media account. “The bloodbath must end immediately”he remarked.
Egyptwhich acts as a mediator in the war alongside the United States and Qatar, denounced in a statement that the Israeli attack represents a flagrant violation of all provisions of international law, as well as all values of humanity and human rights.
The North African country demanded that Israel, as it has done on multiple occasions, put an end to the indiscriminate attacks against Palestinian civilians, especially against the areas of the Strip where the majority of the displaced population is concentrated since the beginning of hostilities in the month of October. “We call on the international community and the UN Security Council to immediately intervene to stop the Israeli war against the Gaza Strip and to take responsible measures to end the humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of more than 36,000 martyrs,” added the note.
