How Israel pulled off daring 'Operation Seeds of Summer' to rescue October 7 hostages: Plain-clothed special forces raided two apartment buildings where kidnapped Israelis were held - guarded by Hamas, deep inside Gaza refugee camp By Natasha Anderson Published: 16:12 BST, 9 June 2024 | Updated: 10:00 BST, 10 June 2024 e-mail 62 shares 301 View comments Israel has carried out its largest rescue operation since the Hamas war began, taking four hostages to safety out of central Gaza in a heavy air and ground assault. Israeli forces pulled off the daring Operation Seeds of Summer mission in broad daylight on Saturday after raiding a heavily-guarded refugee camp in the heart of Nuseirat whilst under fire. Undercover operatives from Yamam, the secretive antiterrorism unit of the Israeli police, and Shin Bet, Israel's equivalent of MI5 , simultaneously raided two apartments in Nuseirat after smuggling themselves into the overcrowded refugee camp, The Sunday Times reported.
The plain-clothed rescuers came under heavy fire as they moved out, including from gunmen firing rocket-propelled grenades from within the neighborhood. Noa Argamani, 26; Almog Meir Jan, 22; Andrey Kozlov, 27; and Shlomi Ziv, 41, were then extracted by helicopter during the 'complex' mission, which an Israeli Army spokesman has described has being 'like a surgical brain operation'. The hostages had been held in captivity for 245 days after being abducted from the Nova music festival during Hamas' October 7 attack.
