Four hostages were rescued simultaneously from two separate nearby locations from Nuseirat in central Gaza in a high-risk joint operation by the IDF, Shin Bet, and Yamam and police in broad daylight, the IDF announced in a series of statements on Saturday.
Regarding the third such successful operation to rescue hostages since the war started on October 7, the IDF said that the rescued hostages were Noa Argamani (25,) Almog Meir (21,) Andrey Kozlov (27,) and Shlomi Ziv (40,) all of whom were kidnapped by Hamas to the Gaza Strip from the ‘Nova’ party.
An uncertain number of Palestinian terrorists and civilians were killed during the operation. The IDF implied that dozens of terrorists were killed but left open the possibility that potentially some dozens of Palestinian civilians might also have been killed.
According to the IDF, around 90 Palestinians were likely killed, but the complexity of the hostages being held in civilian areas and a certain amount of chaos at points of the operation left the breakdown of terrorists to civilians unclear, with Hamas claiming the number was closer to 210, but not providing any verifiable evidence.
The heroic operation put a new wind into the sales of the IDF and the Israeli public, but also will likely lead Hamas to improve its guard on other hostages, and it was unclear whether it would impact the broader strategic situation in which Hamas has held huge leverage over Israel by virtue of the around 120 hostages it still holds.
Relating to the operation, the military said, “The hostages were rescued by Shin Bet and Yamam fighters from two different locations in an operation in the heart of Nuseirat. Their medical condition is stable, and they have been transferred for further medical examinations at the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer. Security forces will continue to make every effort to bring back the hostages.”
Later, in a televised statement, IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagan spoke on the heroic operation, “The IDF and Yamam infiltrated two facilities while under fire by Hamas terrorists. A Yamam soldier was seriously injured in the operation and has just reached the hospital. We pray for his well-being.”
Ch.-Insp. Arnon Zamora, 36, the Yamam fighter who was wounded in Saturday’s hostage rescue operation, succumbed to his wounds at the hospital, the Israel Police announced later Saturday.
The operation to free Aramani went off without much of a hitch, but the operation to free the other three hostages in a separate building around two meters away led to a significant exchange of gunfire in which Zamora was killed. Both buildings were around three to four stories high.
The operation started to be planned months ago, but was delayed a number of times to improve the exact intelligence about the whereabouts, risks, and security parameters related to rescuing the hostages.
At one point, the operation was going to be only to rescue Argamani, but at a later stage, it was decided to carry out a higher risk simultaneous operation in both locations, lest Hamas guards in the second location kill the other three hostages, hearing there was a nearby IDF attack, and not realizing that they were not part of the operation.
Part of the operation was also facilitated by the fact that the hostages were being held in civilian apartments above ground, as opposed to tunnels, where many other hostages are held.
On the other hand, the fact that some of those holding the hostages were not official members of Hamas but civilians who were paid to supervise them to better conceal their location created complications for the entire operation.
The operation was finally approved in principle by the war cabinet, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and National Unity party officials Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot (both former IDF chiefs) on Thursday night.
Around 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar ordered the operation to be executed from a joint operations command center, with the belief that in this specific case, an operation in broad daylight would achieve greater surprise, despite the additional risks of being seen more vividly in daylight than in a nighttime operation.
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