June 8th 2024.
On Saturday, Israel announced a successful rescue mission of four hostages who had been kidnapped during a Hamas-led attack on October 7. This was the largest such operation since the beginning of the war in Gaza. The Health Ministry reported that at least 94 Palestinians, including children, were killed in the ongoing heavy fighting in central Gaza.
The Israeli army shared that Noa Argamani, 25, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 40, were rescued in a complex daytime operation in the heart of Nuseirat. The soldiers bravely raided two locations simultaneously, amidst gunfire, to successfully bring the hostages to safety.
Many people were familiar with Noa Argamani's case as she had been widely recognized after being abducted from a music festival in southern Israel. The video of her abduction was one of the first to surface, showing her being taken away on a motorcycle while screaming for help. Her mother, Liora, who is battling stage four brain cancer, had released a heart-wrenching video in April pleading to see her daughter before she passes away.
After the successful rescue, an elated Noa spoke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the phone. In an audio message released by the government, Netanyahu asked her how she was feeling, to which she replied with excitement, sharing that she hadn't heard Hebrew in a long time.
The bodies of the Palestinian casualties were taken to Al-Aqsa Hospital, where more than 100 wounded also arrived. The Associated Press reported seeing the dead being brought in from the Nuseirat and Deir al-Balah areas, as smoke filled the distance. Israel's military stated that they had targeted threats to their forces in the area, resulting in one fighter being seriously wounded.
In the October 7 attack, Hamas had taken around 250 hostages, resulting in the deaths of approximately 1200 people. While half were released during a weeklong ceasefire in November, more than 130 hostages still remain, with an estimated quarter of them believed to be deceased. This has caused divisions as to the best approach to bring them back home.
As international pressure mounts on Israel to minimize civilian casualties, the country's war in Gaza enters its eighth month, with over 36,700 Palestinians killed, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The ongoing fighting and Israeli restrictions have led to a severe food shortage for Palestinians, as aid has been cut off.
In an effort to reach a ceasefire, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to return to the Middle East next week. This comes after Saturday's successful rescue operation, bringing the total number of rescued captives to seven. Two men were rescued in February, and a woman was rescued in the aftermath of the October attack.
The Israeli government stated that at least 16 bodies of hostages have been recovered from Gaza. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant praised Saturday's operation as a heroic one and ensured that the army will continue to fight until all hostages are returned. However, Prime Minister Netanyahu is facing mounting pressure to end the conflict in Gaza. While many Israelis support a deal proposed by US President Joe Biden, far-right allies threaten to collapse his government if he agrees.
In the area where the hostages were rescued, Israel's operations have intensified. On Thursday, an Israeli airstrike hit a UN-run school compound in Nuseirat, killing over 33 people, including three women and nine children. Israel claimed that there were around 30 militants inside the school at the time, and on Friday, they released the names of 17 alleged militants who were killed. However, hospital records only matched nine of those names, with one of them being an eight-year-old boy.
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