Crime
Israel Executes Largest Hostage Rescue Operation Amid Gaza Conflict: 4 Freed, Dozens Killed
Israel conducts largest hostage rescue operation in Gaza, saving four amid heavy assault. 94 Palestinians, including children, dead. Hostages reunited with families after 246 days. Netanyahu vows to continue fighting.
5 min read
Originally published by barbadostoday.bb (opens in new tab)
Israel on Saturday carried out its largest hostage rescue operation since the latest war with Hamas began, taking four to safety out of central Gaza amid the military’s heavy air and ground assault. At least 94 dead Palestinians, including children, were brought to local hospitals, a health official said.
Israelis were jubilant as the army said it freed Noa Argamani, 25; Almog Meir Jan, 21; Andrey Kozlov, 27; and Shlomi Ziv, 40, in a daytime operation in the heart of Nuseirat, raiding two locations at once while under fire. All were well, the military said. They were taken by helicopter for medical checks and tearful reunions with loved ones after 246 days held.
Argamani had been one of the most widely recognized hostages after being taken, like the three others, from a music festival.
The video of her abduction, among the first to surface, showed her seated between two men on a motorcycle as she screamed, “Don’t kill me!”
Her mother, Liora, has stage four brain cancer and in April released a video pleading to see her daughter before she dies.
In a video message released by the government, an elated Argamani tells Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone she is “very excited,” saying she hasn’t heard Hebrew in so long.
Netanyahu in a statement said, “Israel does not surrender to terrorism and acts with creativity and boldness that knows no bounds to bring home our abductees.” He vowed to continue the fighting until all are freed.
The operation was “daring in nature, planned brilliantly, and executed in an extraordinary fashion,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said.
Israeli aircraft hummed overhead as the bodies of nearly 100 Palestinians killed were taken to Al-Aqsa Hospital, where spokesperson Khalil Degran told The Associated Press more than 100 wounded also arrived. AP reporters saw dozens of bodies brought from the Nuseirat and Deir al-Balah areas, as smoke rose in the distance and armored vehicles rolled by.
A baby was among the dead. Small children wailed, covered in blood. Bodies were placed on the ground outside, their feet bare, as more wounded were rushed in.
“My two cousins were killed, and two other cousins were seriously injured. They did not commit any sin. They were sitting at home,” one relative said in the chaos. As Palestinians explored the newly destroyed buildings, a small child sat on a collapsed metal door, overwhelmed.
Israel’s military said it had attacked “threats to our forces in the area,” adding that one commando died from his wounds.
