He needed a heroic action and a success that would unite the political forces and the country around him. And he had it. With the spectacular blitz by Israeli special forces supported by a US cell, which yesterday led to the release of four hostages in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu achieved a double result: defusing the threat of defections among the parties that support and underline his determination to continue the conflict until complete and final victory over Hamas. In addition to having won the applause of the Forum of the families of the hostages, heartened by “a miraculous triumph”.
On the day on which the ultimatum to the prime minister of the war Cabinet minister, the centrist Benny Gantz, who threatened to withdraw the support given in October to the emergency executive, expired, the result of the blitz was liberating both for the head of government and for the abductees and their families. Gantz canceled the farewell press conference that he had announced for Saturday evening: “My thoughts go to all the families of the hostages, we are committed to bringing them home.” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, also at loggerheads with the prime minister although a member of his own Likud, claimed his place on the bandwagon. The Israelis are «overwhelmed with joy», he wrote on X: the army, intelligence and special forces «conducted a heroic and complex operation. We will continue to fight until the 120 hostages are home.”
To confirm the newfound agreement, the Prime Minister thanked Gallant and also congratulated the Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, the Chief of Staff of the Shin Bet (the secret services) Bet Ronen Bar and the entire team that took part of the operation. «Once again, you have demonstrated that Israel does not surrender to terrorism and acts with boundless creativity and courage to bring our abductees home. We will not stop until we complete the mission” reiterates Netanyahu.
The political green light for the blitz, which had been prepared for weeks, would have arrived on Thursday evening from the War Cabinet, the site writes Ynet. Netanyahu would have followed the mission from a Shin Bet war room. The special forces simultaneously raided two sites in Nuseirat, in the center of the Strip: one contained Almog Meir Jan (21 years old), Andrey Kozlov (27) and Shlomi Ziv (40); in the other Noa Argamani (25). The four were kidnapped on October 7 while attending the Supernova music festival near the community of Reim. In support of the ground action, heavy air strikes were carried out in the area which reportedly killed 107 Palestinians, according to journalistic sources cited by CNN. The data initially provided by the Deir al-Balah hospital reported 94 dead and around a hundred injured. Hamas then updated the number to 210 dead and 400 wounded. The commander of the police special anti-terrorism unit, Arnon Zamora, was killed in the firefight with the militiamen. «The army salutes his memory. Zamora is a hero of Israel who loved and protected his country »said the military spokesman.
If American President Joe Biden joined his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in “welcoming the news of the rescue of four hostages”, the leader of the White House underlined that “we will not stop working until all the hostages return home and a ceasefire will be reached. It is essential that this happens.”
But today the ceasefire is further away than ever. Counting the victims of the Nuseirat massacre by the hundreds, the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, appeared unwilling to come to terms: «Our people will not surrender and the resistance will continue to defend our rights in the face of this criminal enemy ».
Who are the hostages
by Fiammetta Martegani
Not only Israel, but the whole world, will never be able to forget the face of Noa Argamani, 25 years old, who appeared in a video – which went viral on the same day as the October 7 massacre – in which terrorists snatched her from the arms of her boyfriend Avitan Or and they dragged her away on a motorbike, while she begged not to be killed. On Saturday, together with the young woman, three more of the 250 Israelis kidnapped by Hamas during Black Saturday were freed. All four were at the Nova Music Festival: Almog Meir, 21 years old; Andrey Kozlov, 27 and Shlomi Ziv, 40, the latter two responsible for security at the Rave. Since then, the images of Noa’s kidnapping have become the symbol of the brutal attack by Hamas and the pain of the families of the hostages: today 121 are still in the hands of the terrorist group, of which 37 are confirmed dead.
Just last week Noa appeared in a video shot by Hamas in which she asked the prime minister to stop the war for which he is responsible: «I am addressing all of Israel: have you also become allies of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government? – declared the girl’s voice in the video – Go out into the streets, block the streets of Tel Aviv and don’t go home until we go home. Don’t put our fate in the hands of Netanyahu and the war cabinet.” The prime minister, as soon as she was freed, reiterating her concern, wanted to contact her to underline her and the army’s commitment to the release of the kidnapped people. While the president, Isaac Herzog, embraced her “on behalf of all Israel”. The country awaited this return with particular attention, also due to the precarious conditions in which the mother finds herself – suffering from cancer and in a terminal phase – who, for months, fought with all her strength, certain that she would see her daughter again before die. At the moment Noa and the other three hostages are in good condition and are hospitalized at Tel Ha Shomer hospital in Ramat Gan.
