Four Israeli hostages were rescued alive from Hamas captivity Saturday in a daring daylight operation in the central Gaza Strip, the military announced. Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 40, had been abducted from the Supernova music festival near the community of Re’im on the morning of October 7, when some 3,000 Hamas-led terrorists killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages in a murderous rampage in southern Israel. Officers of police’s elite Yamam counter-terrorism unit, along with Shin Bet agents, simultaneously raided two Hamas buildings in the heart of central Gaza’s Nuseirat, a joint statement said.
Argamani was rescued at one site, while Meir Jan, Kozlov, and Ziv were at the second location. Hundreds more soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces participated in the operation, according to the military. Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Rear Adm.
Daniel Hagari said the hostages were rescued by special forces while “under fire.” A Yamam officer was critically wounded in the operation and brought to an Israeli hospital, but died shortly after. He was named as Chief Inspector Arnon Zamora.
Amid the operation, heavy airstrikes were carried out in the area against Hamas sites and in support of the ground troops, the military said. Hamas health authorities reported at least 50 Palestinians were killed, without noting how many were combatants. The rescued hostages, who had been in Hamas captivity for eight months, were all in good c.
