Israeli special forces have freed four hostages held in Nuseirat, central Gaza, on a day when Israeli airstrikes and heavy fighting in the same area killed at least 93 Palestinians, according to local medics.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas described the Israeli attacks as a “bloody massacre” and called for an emergency UN security council session.
The hostages freed in the raid had been kidnapped from the Nova music festival and were named as Noa Argamani, 25, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 40.
Israeli bombing was concentrated around a market and the al-Awda mosque, and the scale of casualties overwhelmed the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ hospital, the only one in the area that is still partially functioning.
It issued an urgent call for medical assistance, saying teams on duty could not deal with the scale of catastrophe, and called on residents to donate blood.
Videos on social media, that appeared to be from the same location but could not be immediately verified, showed victims including women and children, covered in blood or limp in rescuers’ arms.
Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant said special forces operated under heavy fire and in a “complex urban environment” to carry out the rescue, which he called one of the “most heroic and extraordinary operations I have witnessed” in a 47-year military career.
All four of the freed hostages were healthy and were reunited with their families after medical tests in an Israeli hospital. Israeli counter-terrorism police officer Arnon Zamora was killed in the operation.
Images and videos released by Israeli authorities showed Argamani’s father speaking to her on the way to hospital. It was his birthday and he said her release was the “best present”.
Her mother, Liora Argamani, who has stage four cancer, had said her greatest wish was to see her daughter again. The two were expected to be reunited soon.
Argamani spoke on the phone to the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, telling him it was good to hear Hebrew spoken again, and to the president, Isaac Herzog.
Troops deployed for the raid included air force, artillery and special forces who landed by sea. At one point a rescue vehicle with three hostages in got stuck and had to be rescued, the YNET online outlet reported.
Netanyahu personally thanked the team that commanded the operation, according to a statement from his office.
“Yet again you have proven that Israel does not surrender to terrorism and acts with boundless valour and resourcefulness to return home our hostages,” he said. “We are obligated to do the same in the future.”
Saturday’s operation, the first successful military mission to free hostages since February, brings the number of hostages rescued by the Israeli military to seven. There are still 120 Israelis held in the Gaza Strip, a third of whom are believed to have died.
Palestinian militants kidnapped 250 people on 7 October. The vast majority of those who are now back in Israel returned last November, as part of a deal including a temporary ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
There has been increasing pressure on the Israeli government to agree another ceasefire, including from hostages’ families, who were set to hold a rally on Saturday evening in Tel Aviv. Argamani’s father, Ya’akov Argamani, called on Israelis to attend.
The US has also been pushing hard for a deal to halt the fighting in Gaza, and secure the release of hostages who include US citizens, but Netanyahu’s government has long insisted that military force is the best way to ensure the return of everyone captured on 7 October.
He has repeatedly said the war will not end until Hamas is “destroyed” and all hostages are home. Saturday’s rescue operation may give him a temporary boost in efforts to resist the domestic and international pressure to halt the fighting.
After the news broke, his political rival Benny Gantz, a security cabinet member, delayed a speech planned for Saturday evening. He had been widely expected to announce he was leaving the government, having given Netanyahu an ultimatum to form a long-term plan for Gaza.
Gantz will now consult allies on whether the hostage release raid represents a fundamental change in the course of the war, and if he should reconsider his decision to quit, Haaretz reported.
