Almog Meir Jan, 21, one of four hostages who were kidnapped in a Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, and was just rescued, arrives by helicopter to the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel, Saturday, June 8, 2024. Israel says it has rescued four hostages who were kidnapped in a Hamas-led attack on Oct.
7. (AP Photo/Tomer Appelbaum) DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israel on Saturday carried out its largest hostage rescue operation since the war with Hamas began, taking four to safety out of central Gaza as heavy fighting continued there. At least 94 dead Palestinians, including children, were brought to local hospitals, a health officials said.
Israelis were jubilant as the army said it rescued Noa Argamani, 25; Almog Meir Jan, 21; Andrey Kozlov, 27; and Shlomi Ziv, 40, in a complex daytime operation in the heart of Nuseirat, raiding two locations at once and under fire. All were well, the military said. They were taken by helicopter for medical checks and reunions with loved ones after 246 days in captivity.
Argamani had been one of the most widely recognized hostages after being abducted from a music festival in southern Israel. The video of her abduction was among the first to surface, with her between two men on a motorcycle as she screamed, “Don’t kill me!” Her mother, Liora, has stage four brain cancer and in April released a video pleading to see her daughter before she dies. An elated Argamani spoke by phone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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