The Israel Defense Force (IDF) has shared fresh details about the nation's bold operation, resulting in the rescue of four hostages. On Saturday, the Israeli Military revealed that it rescued Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv from Gaza after a “complex daytime operation”.
As per IDF, these four hostages were kidnapped by Hamas from the Nova music festival on October 7.
The IDF has described the daytime operation — “Seeds of Summer” — as a "high-risk, complex mission" that was "surgical" in its precision, reported Fox News.
Israel Defense Force's Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said that the rescue mission was planned for weeks using "precise intelligence". The operation took place at around 11 a.m. local time in the heart of Nuseirat in central Gaza, the report added.
Mr Hagari revealed that the officers of the National Police special anti-terror unit of Yamam raided two Hamas buildings to rescue three male and one female hostages. The anti-terror unit was joined by Shin Bet agents.
Mr Hagari also mentioned that for weeks, these soldiers had been undergoing intense training, in a bid to prepare for this rescue mission.
The 26-year-old Noa Agamani was found in an apartment, reported BBC.
Whereas, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Shlomi Ziv, 41, and Andrey Kozlov, who is 27, were rescued from the second location, the report added.
On June 8, the IDF shared dramatic aerial footage on X (formerly Twitter) showing the officers rescuing 3 of the 4 hostages from Gaza. In the clip, Almog Meir Jan, Shlomi Ziv and Andrey Kozlov can be seen running with the Israeli forces towards a stationed helicopter.
As soon as the hostages along with the officers get into the chopper it takes off. The text in the clip reads, “The takeoff of the helicopter from the Gaza Strip with three of the rescued hostages.”
The clip was shared along with the text, “Bringing them home: The moment we rescued 3 of the 4 hostages from the heart of Gaza.”
Mr Hagari informed that under 100 Palestinians were killed in the raid. These hostages were held captive in civilian buildings.
Israeli intelligence was able to pinpoint two of these buildings in Nuseirat, wherein families were staying with armed guards inside.
Mr Hagari said, “This is a huge risk because they might have thought that we were preparing for another raid. You have to understand that they're moving the hostages from flat to flat.”
On why they decided to accomplish this operation during the daytime, Mr Hagari said, “In the daytime, you take more risks to make sure the surprise element is kept, and we understood that inside the flats it would give us leverage. We surprised them completely, but it was still hard.”
During the operation, Chief Inspector Arnon Zmora succumbed to his injuries. Israeli Ambassador to India Naor Gilon paid his respect via X.
Mr Gilon shared Arnon Zmora's photo and wrote, “This is how a hero looks like. Captain Arnon Zmora, an officer in the Israel Police special counter-terror unit (Yamam) died today while rescuing the 4 hostages from Gaza. He was 36 and married with 2 children. R.I.P. Om Shanti.”
Talking about the rescue of the hostages, IDF shared their pictures on X and wrote, “Noa Argamani (25), Almog Meir Jan (21), Andrey Kozlov (27), and Shlomi Ziv (40) were rescued in a special operation by the IDF, ISA and Israel Police from 2 separate locations in the heart of Nuseirat after being kidnapped by Hamas from the Nova music festival. They are in good medical condition and have been transferred to the 'Sheba' Tel-HaShomer Medical Center for further medical examinations. We will continue to make every effort to bring the hostages home.”
It must be noted that the Hamas-run government media office reported that the attacks of this operation left 210 Palestinians dead and hundreds wounded.
