JERUSALEM – In a daring operation on Saturday, Israeli forces successfully liberated four hostages who had been held captive by Hamas since October. The rescue mission took place in the central Gaza Strip, where, according to local medical personnel, at least 93 Palestinians lost their lives due to airstrikes in the same region.
Details regarding whether the hostage rescue and the Israeli air assault were part of a single operation remain unclear. However, both incidents occurred in Al-Nuseirat, a densely populated and frequently contested area in the ongoing eight-month war between Israel and Hamas, the ruling party in Gaza.
An Israeli military spokesperson revealed that the rescue operation unfolded under hostile conditions in the heart of a residential neighbourhood. He stated that Hamas had been concealing the hostages among Gaza civilians, under the watchful eyes of armed militants.
Israeli forces retaliated with gunfire and airstrikes, according to Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the military spokesperson. Tragically, one Israeli special forces soldier lost his life during the operation, as reported in a police statement.
The hostages, identified as Noa Argamani (25), Almog Meir Jan (21), Andrey Kozlov (27), and Shlomi Ziv (40), were immediately transported to a hospital for medical evaluation. The military confirmed that they were in good health.
The four individuals were kidnapped during the Nova music festival amidst a deadly raid by the Palestinian militant group, Hamas, on Israeli towns and villages near Gaza on October 7. This attack triggered the ongoing war in the besieged Hamas-controlled enclave.
According to Israeli authorities, the Hamas raid resulted in approximately 1,200 fatalities. The subsequent conflict in Gaza has claimed the lives of at least 36,801 Palestinians, as per the latest count by the enclave’s health ministry on Saturday.
Appeal to the President
On October 7, Palestinian militants abducted around 250 hostages and took them back to Gaza. As per Israeli records, 116 hostages remain in Gaza, including at least 40 whom Israeli authorities have declared dead.
Israeli News 12 aired footage of a joyful reunion between Argamani and her father. A video of Argamani’s abduction, in which she can be heard pleading “Don’t kill me!” as she was taken into Gaza on a motorbike, had circulated shortly after her capture on October 7.
Argamani, surrounded by family and friends in a hospital, was shown speaking to Israeli President Isaac Herzog over the phone in footage released by the president’s office. “Thank you for everything, thank you for this moment,” she expressed.
“I am so excited to hear your voice, it brings tears to my eyes … welcome home,” Herzog responded.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, local medics and Palestinian health ministry officials reported that an Israeli military operation in Nuseirat had resulted in numerous casualties, including women and children. The ministry did not specify how many of the deceased were combatants.
Ismail Al-Thawbta, the director of the Hamas-run government media office, informed Reuters that the death toll in Nuseirat and surrounding areas had risen to 93.
Unverified social media footage depicted bodies lying in blood-soaked streets. “It was like a horror movie but this was a real massacre. Israeli drones and warplanes fired all night randomly at people’s houses and at people who tried to flee the area,” recounted Ziad, a 45-year-old paramedic and resident of Nuseirat, who only provided his first name.
Ziad revealed that the bombardment was concentrated around a local marketplace and the Al-Awda mosque. “To free four people Israel killed dozens of innocent civilians,” he lamented.
Emergency response teams were attempting to transport the dead and injured to a hospital in the nearby city of Deir al-Balah. However, many bodies remained in the streets, particularly around a market district, according to Ziad and other residents.
Nuseirat, a historic Palestinian refugee camp, has been heavily bombed by Israel during the war, and intense ground combat has occurred in its eastern regions.
The Gaza war shows no signs of abating, even as the United States, Israel’s primary ally, pushes for a ceasefire and a deal that would secure the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas in exchange for the release of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
The conflict has destabilised the wider Middle East, drawing in Iran, Hamas’s main supporter, and its heavily armed Lebanese ally Hezbollah. Israeli officials have threatened to wage war on Hezbollah along Israel’s northern border.
Disagree, biased reporting on casualties.
Isreal’s actions saved lives, but the loss of so many in Gaza cannot be ignored.
imatinib and dasatinib, MDM2 p53 interaction inhibitors, PI3K Akt mTOR inhibitors, IDH1 inhibitors, EZH2 inhibitors buy priligy