Israelhas carried out its largest rescue operation since theHamaswar began, taking four hostages to safety out of central Gazain a heavy air and ground assault.
Israeliforces pulled off the daring Operation Seeds of Summer mission in broad daylight on Saturday after raiding a heavily-guarded refugee camp inthe heart of Nuseirat whilst under fire.
Undercover operatives fromYamam, the secretive antiterrorism unit of the Israeli police, and Shin Bet, Israel's equivalent of MI5,simultaneously raided two apartments inNuseirat after smuggling themselves into the overcrowded refugee camp, The Sunday Times reported.
The plain-clothed rescuers came under heavy fire as they moved out, including from gunmen firing rocket-propelled grenades from within the neighborhood.
Noa Argamani, 26; Almog Meir Jan, 22; Andrey Kozlov, 27; and Shlomi Ziv, 41,were then extracted by helicopter during the 'complex' mission, which an Israeli Army spokesman has described has being 'like a surgical brain operation'.
The hostages had been held in captivity for 245 days after being abducted from the Nova music festival during Hamas' October 7 attackthat sparked war. They were then reunited with loved ones in emotional scenes at a hospital in Tel Aviv.
Israelcarried out its largest rescue operation since the Hamas war began on Saturday, taking four hostages to safety out of central Gaza in a heavy air and ground assault. A helicopter transporting the hostages out of Gaza is seen landingoutside a hospital in Tel Aviv on Saturday
Undercover operatives from Yamam, the secretive antiterrorism unit of the Israeli police, and Shin Bet, Israel's equivalent of MI5 , simultaneously raided two apartments in Nuseirat after smuggling themselves into the overcrowded refugee camp. Pictured isMinister of Defense Yoav Gallant on Saturday approving the operation to rescue the hostages
Israel's Defence Forces (IDF) said it freed the four hostages in a daytime operation in Nuseirat on Saturday.
IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said that military intelligence determined some time ago that the hostages were being held in two apartments, about 200 meters away from each other, in the heart of the Nuseirat camp.
He said the forces had trained repeatedly on a model of the apartment buildings.
Hagari said the forces moved in simultaneously in broad daylight on both apartments, believing this ensured the 'ultimate surprise'.
He explained that 'tension in the command room was very, very high' when IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi approved the mission at 11.25am.
The captors holding 26-year-oldArgamani were 'taken by surprise' and 'swiftly killed' by Israeli forces as they raided the apartment were she was being held, according to The Sunday Times. She was rushed to a helicopter on a beach near the camp.
A gunfight ensued in the second apartment, where Meir Jan, Kozlov and Ziv were being held, as the soldiers tried to leave.
Noa Argamani, 26, is pictured at the hospital on Saturday after the rescue, apparently speaking to loved ones on the phone. Her captors had been 'taken by surprise' and were 'swiftly killed' by Israeli forces as they raided the apartment in Nuseirat were she was being held, it has since emerged
Almog Meir Jan, 21, (pictured) raises his hands after arriving by helicopter to the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel on Saturday. He was rescued from a second apartment in the refugee camp along withAndrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41
Shlomi Ziv, a rescued hostage, on Saturday embraces his sister, Revital Nasi, and his cousin, Liat Ariel, who struggled for more than 8 months to bring him home
Chief Inspector Arnon Zmora was critically wounded n the exchange and later died from his injuries.
'When we started to go out from the buildings [with the hostages], a lot of fire was around us,' Hagari said, adding that 'terrorists were running in the streets with rocketpropelled grenades'.
One of Israel's vehicles was disabled in the gunfight and abandoned as the convoy rushed to the beach, where a second helicopter had been waiting.
The two helicopters flew the hostages, who were said to be in 'good medical condition', out of the Gaza strip. They were then taken to hospital formedical checks and tearful reunions with loved ones.
Hagari, explaining that the mission was carried out as thousands of people, including civilians, roamed the camp, said they decided to raid both apartments simultaneously to reduce the risk to the hostages.
'If we'd have chosen only one, there was a risk to the other one. The killing of our hostages was a huge risk,' he said. 'They would have known we were preparing for another raid.'
A US hostage cell provided advice and support throughout the process of locating and rescuing the hostages, according to aBiden administration official, who was not authorized to comment and requested anonymity. The hostage cells are multi-agency teams.
Hamas took some 250 hostages during the Oct. 7 attack that killed about 1,200 people. About half were released in a weeklong cease-fire in November.
About 120 hostages remain, with 43 pronounced dead. Survivors include about 15 women, two children under 5 and two men in their 80s.
AndreyKozlov, 27, had been working as a security guard at the music festival after immigrating from Russia to Israel alone a year and a half earlier. He is seen crying at the hospital as he connects with his loved ones via telephone
Noa Argamani is reunited with her father Yaakov after at the medical centre in Tel Aviv on Saturday after she had spent eight months in captivity
Andrey Kozlov,Almog Meir Jan andShlomi Ziv are pictured with Israeli forces outside a hospital in Ramat Gan, Israel on Saturday after they were rescued from the central Gaza strip
Saturday's operation brought the total number of rescued hostages to seven.
Two were freed in February and one was freed in the aftermath of the October attack. Israeli troops have recovered the bodies of at least 16 others, according to the government.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuvowed to continue the fighting until all hostages are freed.
Saturday's operation was 'daring in nature, planned brilliantly, and executed in an extraordinary fashion,' Defense Minister Yoav Gallant added.
News of the freed captives was met with celebrations and cheers in Israel, while anxieties over the fate of the remaining hostages prompted thousands to gather in Tel Aviv demanding an end to the eight-month-old war.
'They won't be able to release all of them in a military operation,' said Michael Levy, whose brother Or is still being held.
Near Nuseirat on Saturday, an AFP photographer saw scores of Palestinians running for cover in fear of further Israeli strikes.
After the operation, piles of smouldering rubble and chunks of concrete clogged the streets.
The Hamas media office said 'the number of victims from the Israeli occupation's massacre in the Nuseirat camp has risen to 210 martyrs and more than 400 wounded'.
The operation came days after an Israeli strike on the Nuseirat school run by the UNagency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, which a Gaza hospital said had killed 37 people and the military said targeted 'terrorists'.
UNRWA condemned Israel for striking a facility it said had been housing 6,000 displaced people.
Israel accuses Hamas and its allies in Gaza of using civilian infrastructure, including UN-run facilities, as operational centres, charges the militants deny.
Supporters of the hostages waved Israeli flags and filmed themselves outside the hospital on Saturday after the military said that Israeli forces had rescued four hostages
Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday night to celebrate the rescue of hostages - but to also call for Israel to agree a ceasefire deal with Hamas to secure the release of others still held captive
People wave Israeli flags to helicopter carrying hostages who were kidnapped in a Hamas-led attack on October 7and were just rescued as its lands at the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel, Saturday, June 8, 2024
The war has brought widespread devastation to Gaza, with one in 20 people dead or wounded, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. Most of Gaza's 2.4 million inhabitants are displaced.
Aid groups and the UN have also accused Israel of blocking or delaying the entry of food, water, medicines and fuel into Gaza, depriving people of lifesaving supplies.
Israel has blamed shortages on aid agencies' inability to distribute supplies.
UN chief Antonio Guterres said on Saturday that 135 UNRWA workers have died in the war, the highest number of UN personnel killed in a single conflict.
'This horror must stop,' he said.
