Four Israeli hostages taken by Hamas from a music festival during the group’s October 7 terrorist attack were rescued alive Saturday during a raid on the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces, the security service Shin Bet, and the Israeli police announced in a joint statement.
25-year-old Noa Argamani, 21-year-old Almog Meir Jan, 27-year-old Andrey Kozlov and 40-year-old Shlomi Ziv were all kidnapped at the Nova music festival. They were recovered after the IDF announced it was striking „terrorist infrastructure“ in central Gaza.
The joint statement said the hostages were rescued from two different locations during the operation, and that „their medical condition is normal.“
Marko Djurica/REUTERS
The freed Israelis were sent to the Tel Hashomer Sheba Medical Center for further medical examination, the joint statement said. Family members could be seen arriving at the hospital on Saturday to greet their loved ones.
„I followed the complex operation from the command and control center — IDF, ISA and Special Forces operated with extraordinary courage under heavy fire, and succeeded in completing their mission,“ Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant said after the announcement. „Israel’s defense establishment will continue fighting until 120 hostages return home.“
„The heroic operation by the IDF that freed and brought home Noa Argamani, Shlomi Ziv, Andrey Kozlov, and Almog Meir Jan is a miraculous triumph,“ the Hostages Families Forum said in a statement. „Now, with the joy that is washing over Israel, the Israeli government must remember its commitment to bring back all 120 hostages still held by Hamas – the living for rehabilitation, the murdered for burial.“
IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that the four hostages were rescued by IDF soldiers from two separate buildings as part of a „high risk complex mission based on precise intelligence conducted in daylight in two separate buildings.“
Hagari said the rescue took place „while under fire inside the buildings, under fire on the way out of Gaza,“ and that Israeli forces had been preparing for the mission for weeks.
„They underwent intensive training. They risked the lives to save the lives of our hostages. This is what we do in Israel,“ Hagari said.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.