This morning, in a complex combined operation by the IDF, the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), and the Israel Police Yamam anti-terror unit, four Israeli hostages were rescued from the Gaza Strip. The four are Noa Argamani (25), Almog Meir (21), Andrey Kozlov (27), and Shlomi Ziv (40). All four were abducted by Hamas on October 7 last year from the Nova music festival that took place near the border settlement of Re’im. All are reportedly in good condition.
Yamam officer Arnon Zemora was severely wounded in the operation and died of his wounds in hospital.
The hostages were rescued from two sites a few hundred meters apart in Nuseirat in the center of the Gaza Strip. The raids on the buildings themselves were carried out by Yamam and the Israel Security Agency, with the IDF providing covering fire from the ground and the air. Hamas has claimed that large numbers of non-combatants were killed and injured in the operation.
"The was a daring operation in broad daylight," said IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari. "In the course of it, the fighters raided two different buildings in the heart of the Gaza Strip. Under fire, they recued the four hostages and attacked threats to our forces in the area. Obtaining the intelligence for this operation was a vey complicated operation in itself.
"Alongside the great joy, we will continue to do everything to bring back to us the 120 remaining hostages," Hagari continued. "The message to Hamas is clear: we are very determined to bring the hostages back home, and we will do so in every possible way."
Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant said: "Noa, Almog, Andrey, and Shlomi, how good it is that you are with us. Our fighters succeeded in freeing four hostages from Hamas captivity and bringing the home to Israel. I followed the complex operation from the command room. The forces of the IDF, the Israel Security Agency, and Yamam acting courageously, under heavy fire, completed their mission heroically. The defense forces will continue to fight until our 120 hostages are brought back, and will act to free them at every opportunity."
National Unity party leader Benny Gantz cancelled the press conference at which he was due to announced that he was puling out of the government, which his party joined in the wake of the October 7 attack. Gantz had given Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an ultimatum that unless he presented a coherent plan for the way the Gaza Strip would be governed after the war by June 8, his centrist party would quit the government. Following today’s rescue operation, Netanyahu called on Gantz to stay. In response, Gantz issued a statement welcoming the operation, but saying that Israel’s external and internal challenges remained, "and therefore today too we need to look responsibly on how it is right and possible to continue from here."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on June 8, 2024.
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