The family members of the freed hostages enter the hospital where they were taken for checks
After eight months of captivity in the Gaza Strip, in the hands of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, four of the hostages return home alive. The Israeli army spokesman announced it. The news was immediately relaunched by all the country’s media.
In a risky operation, the Army Special Forces recovered the four hostages alive: Noa Argamani, Shlomi Ziv, Almog Meir Jan and Andrey Kozlov. They were abducted on October 7 while attending the Supernova music festival near the southern community of Reim. Special forces simultaneously raided two Hamas sites in Nuseirat. Meir Jan, Kozlov and Ziv were together in the same hideout. According to initial medical assessments, they are all in good condition. They were taken to Tel Hashomer hospital for checks.
Heavy air strikes were carried out in the area of the operation in support of the ground troops. Hamas health authorities reported a “large number” of casualties.
After news of the release broke, War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz canceled his evening speech in which he expected to withdraw his party’s support for Benjamin Netanyahu’s national emergency government.
Just under 120 hostages remain in the Gaza Strip, around forty of whom have been officially declared dead because there has been evidence of this even if the bodies have not yet been recovered. As the months pass, the hopes of finding any more alive hostages fade, but today’s rescue heartens the families of all those kidnapped.
