The IDF declared this Saturday, June 8, that it had released four hostages alive, following a “difficult” military operation in Nousseirat, in the center of the enclave strip. Many Palestinians were reportedly killed.
The Israeli army announced this Saturday, June 8 at midday that it had freed four Israeli hostages, alive, during a military operation “difficult” in Nousseirat, in the center of the Gaza Strip. Those released are Noa Argamani, 25, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 40, all four “removed” by Hamas on October 7 at the site of the Nova electro music festival, according to the army.
The operation, which took place around 11 a.m., took place in “a dense urban area” according to IDF spokesperson Olivier Rafowicz, interviewed by BFM. The four hostages were picked up from two different houses before being evacuated by two helicopters to Israel. The soldier mentions “a huge exchange of fire” with “hundreds” Hamas fighters. “This operation took weeks of preparation”specifies Olivier Rafowicz
The hostages, according to the IDF, “are in good medical conditions and have been transferred” to carry out additional examinations.
Earlier on Saturday, the Israeli military said “currently targeting terrorist infrastructures in the Nouisserat area”a city where there is also a refugee camp, located in the center of the besieged Palestinian territory.
A spokesperson for Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Doctor Khalil al-Dakran, announced the deaths of 15 people in “intense Israeli strikes”, which, according to him, left dozens of others injured. The Gaza Ministry of Health, controlled by Hamas, told the American news agency Reuters a death toll of at least 50 people. On BFM, IDF spokesperson Olivier Rafowicz does not give figures but recognizes that there were collateral victims by accusing Hamas “to use civilians as human shields”. It also specifies that a member of the Israeli police special forces who participated in the operation was seriously injured.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz published a video of one of the freed hostages, Noa Argamani, with her father. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also announced that he had spoken with the young woman.
This rescue operation comes in the midst of negotiations for a possible truce between Hamas and Israel, pushed, in particular, by American President Joe Biden. “It’s because we are in Gaza, because we are fighting Hamas, that we were able to save the hostagesestimated IDF spokesperson Olivier Rafowicz this Saturday. With a ceasefire, there would not have been these releases.”
The war in Gaza was triggered by an unprecedented attack on October 7 on Israeli soil by Hamas commandos infiltrated from Palestinian territory which resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count. made from official data. During this attack, 251 people were taken as hostages. 116 of them are still held in Gaza, including 41 dead, according to the Israeli army.
In response to the October 7 attack, the Israeli army launched a large offensive in the small coastal territory. At least 36,800 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed, according to the Health Ministry of the Hamas-led Gaza government.
Update : at 2:04 p.m., with the addition of new elements.
