On Saturday, Israel rescued four hostages kidnapped during the Hamas-led attack on October 7, marking the largest such recovery operation since the war began. According to the Health Ministry, at least 94 Palestinians, including children, were killed amidst ongoing heavy fighting around central Gaza sites.
Israel’s Army announced the successful rescue of Noa Argamani, 25; Almog Meir Jan, 21; Andrey Kozlov, 27; and Shlomi Ziv, 40, in a complex daytime operation in the heart of Nuseirat on Saturday morning. The operation involved simultaneous raids on two locations under fire. According to the military, all four hostages were in good health and were flown by helicopter for medical evaluations and emotional reunions with their families after 246 days in captivity.
Argamani had become one of the most well-known hostages, having been abducted from a music festival in southern Israel. A widely circulated video of her capture was among the first to emerge, showing her wedged between two men on a motorcycle, crying out, “Don’t kill me!”
Her mother, Liora, who is battling stage four brain cancer, released a video in April pleading to see her daughter before she passes away.
A jubilant Argamani spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone. In a message released by the government, Netanyahu is heard asking about her well-being. She expresses her excitement and mentions how she hasn’t heard Hebrew in a long time.
The hostages were rescued in two separate locations in the heart of Nuseirat, it said.
During its October 7 attack on southern Israel, Hamas abducted around 250 hostages. Approximately half were released during a weeklong ceasefire in November.
In a statement, Prime Minister Netanyahu declared, “Israel does not surrender to terrorism and acts with boundless creativity and boldness to bring our abductees home.” He promised to continue the fight until all hostages are freed.
The bodies of nearly 100 Palestinians killed were taken to Al-Aqsa Hospital, where Khalil Degran informed The Associated Press that more than 100 wounded had also arrived. AP reporters observed the dead being brought to the hospital from the Nuseirat and Deir al-Balah areas, as smoke billowed in the distance.
Israel reports that more than 130 hostages are still in captivity, with approximately a quarter presumed dead, sparking deepening divisions within the country regarding the most effective strategies for their retrieval.
The June 8 operation marked the largest successful recovery of living hostages since the conflict began, bringing the total number of rescued individuals to seven.
Photo: Tomer Appelbaum)
