Israel Rescues 4 Hostages in Gaza; Hamas Says 210 Palestinians Killed in Israeli Assault
Editor
8 June 2024 23:08 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jerusalem - Israeli forces rescued four hostages held by Hamas since October in a raid in Gaza on Saturday, June 8, while over 200 Palestinians were killed in airstrikes in the same area, according to Hamas officials, in one of the bloodiest Israeli assaults of the war.
It was not immediately clear if the hostage rescue and the Israeli air assault were part of the same operation but both took place in central Gaza's al-Nuseirat, a densely built-up and often embattled area in the eight-month-old war between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian territory's ruling Islamist group.
An Israeli military spokesperson said the hostage rescue operation unfolded under fire in the heart of a residential neighborhood, where he said Hamas had been hiding captives among Gaza civilians under guard by armed militants.
Israeli forces returned fire, including with airstrikes, added the spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. An Israeli special forces commander was killed during the operation, a police statement said.
Israel named the rescued hostages as Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41. They were taken to hospital for medical checks and were in good health, the military said.
They were all kidnapped from the Nova music festival during the deadly raid by Hamas-led Palestinian militants on Israeli towns and villages near Gaza on Oct. 7, which precipitated the devastating war in the Hamas-run enclave.
Hamas' raid killed some 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities, and Israel's subsequent bombardment and invasion of Gaza has killed at least 36,801 Palestinians, according to an updated tally by the territory's health ministry on Saturday.
CALL TO PRESIDENT
Gunmen took around 250 hostages back to Gaza on Oct. 7. There are 116 now left in the coastal enclave, according to Israeli tallies, including at least 40 whom Israeli authorities have declared dead in absentia.
Israeli News 12 broadcast footage of Argamani reunited with her father, smiling and embracing him. Video of Argamani's kidnapping, showing her shouting "Don't kill me!" as she was driven into Gaza on a motorbike, circulated soon after she was taken on Oct. 7.
A smiling Argamani was shown speaking by phone to Israeli President Isaac Herzog from hospital surrounded by family and friends, in footage released by the president's office.
"Thank you for everything, thank you for this moment," she said.
"I am so excited to hear your voice, it brings tears to my eyes ... Welcome home," Herzog said.
Poland praised the rescue of the hostages and said that one is a dual Israeli-Polish citizen.
