
Israel has reportedly rescued four of the hostages captured by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack. According to the Israeli Defense Forces, the hostages, a woman and three men, were rescued in a complex special daytime operation in the heart of Nuseirat in central Gaza.
The operation was carried out by officers of the National Police special anti-terror unit of Yamam and Shin Bet agents, who raided two Hamas buildings at the same time to pluck the hostages to safety.
Almog Meir Jan, 22, Noa Argamani, 26, Andrey Kozlov, 27 and Shlomi Ziv, 41 had been held in captivity by Hamas for 246 days.
This is the reason we are fighting this war.
Welcome home Noa, Shlomi, Almog and Andrey. pic.twitter.com/Rvbagjjo2X
— Israel ישראל (@Israel) June 8, 2024
Armagani was abducted at a music festival in southern Israel, as seen in a widely shared video in which she looked horrified as two men on a motorcycle detained her. “Don’t kill me!” she screamed with one arm outstretched and the other held down. She would later become the face of the unprecedented terror attack on the Jewish nation.
She was rescued at one site while the men were rescued at the second location.
The operation left a casualty, as Chief Inspector Arnon Zmora, an officer in the special anti-terror unit of Yamam, sustained critical injuries in the raid. He later succumbed to his injuries.
In a statement celebrating the freedom of the four hostages, Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant said, “Noa, Almog, Andrey and Shlomi – we are overjoyed to have you home.”
“Our troops conducted a heroic operation to rescue four hostages held by Hamas, and brought them home to Israel. I followed the complex operation from the command and control center – IDF, ISA and Special Forces operated with extraordinary courage under heavy fire, and succeeded in completing their mission,” he added.
120 Israeli hostages are still being held by Hamas in Gaza, with 43 declared dead and Hamas refusing to release their bodies.
Gallant remembered the remaining hostages in his statement, saying, “Israel’s defense establishment will continue fighting until 120 hostages return home.”
The Hostages Families Forum Headquarters also called for the return of the remaining hostages in a statement that praised the Israeli government for bringing Jan, Argamani, Kozlov and Ziv back home.
“Now, with the joy that is washing over Israel, the Israeli government must remember its commitment to bring back all 120 hostages still held by Hamas – the living for rehabilitation, the murdered for burial,” the group wrote, adding, “We continue to call upon the international community to apply the necessary pressure on Hamas to accept the proposed deal and release the other 120 hostages held in captivity; every day there is a day too far.”