Israel claims to have rescued 4 hostages held by Hamas

Israel carried out on Saturday its largest hostage rescue operation since the current war with Hamasbringing four people to safety in central Gaza amid an intense army air and ground assault Israeli. At least 94 dead Palestinians, including children, were taken to local hospitals, a health official said.

The Israeli population was jubilant at the army’s announcement that it had freed Noa Argamani25 years old; Almog Meir Jan21; Andrey Kozlov, 27; and Shlomi Ziv, 40, on a daytime operation in the heart of Nuseirat, storming two locations at once amid a shootout. Everyone was fine, according to the military. They were transported by helicopter for medical checks and emotional reunions with their loved ones after 246 days held.

Argamani She had been one of the most widely recognized hostages after being held, like the other three, at a music festival.

The video of her kidnapping, one of the first to surface, showed Argamani sitting between two men on a motorcycle while shouting, “Don’t kill me!”

Her mother, Liora, who suffers from stage four brain cancer, posted a video in April pleading to see her daughter before she dies.

In a video message released by the government, an emotional Argamani tells the prime minister on the phone Benjamin Netanyahu that she is “very excited” and that she has not heard Hebrew in a long time.

“Israel does not surrender to terrorism and acts with creativity and unlimited audacity to bring back our kidnapped people,” Netanyahu said in a statement, vowing to continue the fight until everyone is freed.

The operation was “daring in nature, brilliantly planned and executed in an extraordinary manner,” said the Defense Minister. Yoav Gallant.

Israeli planes buzzed in the sky as the bodies of nearly 100 Palestinians were taken to the Al-Aqsa Hospitalwhere the spokesperson Khalil Degran He said that more than 100 wounded also arrived. AP reporters saw dozens of bodies coming from the Nuseirat and Deir al-Balah areas, as smoke rose in the distance and as armored vehicles passed by.

A baby was among the dead. Little children cried, covered in blood. The bodies were placed on the ground outside, with bare feet, when more wounded were rushed away.

“My two cousins ​​were killed and two other cousins ​​were seriously injured. They did not commit any sin. “They were sitting at home,” lamented a relative in the midst of the chaos. As Palestinians explored the newly destroyed buildings, a small boy sat on a collapsed metal door, overwhelmed.

He israel army reported that it had attacked “threats to our forces in the area,” adding that one commander died from his wounds.

A US hostage cell provided advice and support throughout the process of locating and rescuing the hostages, according to an official in President Joe Biden’s administration. The official, who was not authorized to comment and requested anonymity, declined to offer further details about U.S. involvement. Hostage cells are multi-agency teams.

“We will not stop working until all the hostages return home and a ceasefire is achieved,” Biden said.

Hamas took about 250 hostages during the Oct. 7 attack that killed about 1,200 people. About half were freed during a week-long ceasefire in November. About 120 hostages remain, of whom 43 have been declared dead.

Survivors include approximately 15 women, two children under 5 years old and two men over 80 years old.

Saturday’s hostage recovery operation brought the total of captives rescued to seven. Two were freed in February and one was rescued after the October attack. Israeli troops have so far recovered at least 16 bodies of Gaza hostagesaccording to the Israeli government.

The latest rescue is expected to lift spirits in Israel at a time when the war drags on and divisions deepen over how best to return the hostages home.

It was unclear what effect it might have on the apparently stalled ceasefire efforts. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will return to the Middle East next week, looking for progress.

“The hostage release and ceasefire agreement now on the table will ensure the release of all remaining hostages along with security guarantees for Israel and relief for innocent civilians in Gaza,” the security adviser said in a statement. American national Jake Sullivan.

Many Israelis urged Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire deal announced last month by Biden, but his far-right allies are threatening to topple his government if he does so.

International pressure is mounting on Israel to limit the killing of civilians in its war in Gaza, which reached its eighth month on Friday with more than 36,700 Palestinians dead, according to the Gaza Ministry of Healthwhich does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Palestinians also face widespread famine because fighting and Israeli restrictions have largely cut off the flow of humanitarian aid.

Israel intensifies operations throughout central Gaza, where hostages were rescued. On Thursday, an Israeli airstrike hit a UN-run school complex in Nuseirat, killing more than 33 people inside the school, including three women and nine children.

Israel argued that about 30 militants were inside the compound and on Friday released the names of 17 it said were killed. However, only nine of those names matched hospital morgue records. One of the alleged militants was an 8-year-old boy, according to hospital records.

The Israeli military stated Saturday that “Hamas is a terrorist organization that often uses false documents disguising terrorists as women or children.”