“This Saturday morning, during a difficult special daylight operation in Nowsirat, four Israeli hostages were freed,” the army wrote in a press release.
Noah Arkamani (age 25), Almok Meir Jan (age 21), Andrey Kozlov (age 27) and Shlomi Ziv (age 40) have been held hostage by Hamas since the attack on the music festival on October 7 last year. In the south of Israel.
The four hostages were taken to hospital for medical examination but are in stable condition, the army said.
“In a heroic operation, our fighters were able to free four hostages from a Hamas prison and return them to their homes in Israel,” highlighted Defense Minister Yoav Galant, who followed the operation from the control room.
The Hostage Families Forum characterized the release of the four Israeli hostages as a “miraculous victory”. “The heroic operation that freed Noah Arkamani, Shlomi Ziv, Andrey Kozlov and Almok Meir Zan and brought them home was a wonderful victory,” considered the main association of families of hostages held captive by Hamas since October 2023.
The operation was planned for several weeks and a police officer was seriously injured, Hagari announced during a press conference.
“The message sent to Hamas this morning is clear: We are determined to bring home all the hostages,” Hagari said.
A Hamas spokesman told Reuters that the release of four hostages after eight months of conflict was “a sign of defeat, not an achievement”.
Israel’s ambassador to Portugal, Tor Shafira, welcomed the release of the four hostages and vowed that they will not rest until all the hostages are freed.
At least 55 people died in Nusirat
“The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) are attacking terrorist infrastructure in the Nuseirat area (central Gaza Strip),” the army announced in a statement this Saturday.
However, the enclave’s health ministry updated the death toll from Saturday’s attack on the Nusirat refugee camp to at least 210 Palestinians.
“The death toll in the massacre perpetrated by the Israeli occupiers in the Nusayrat camp has reached 210 martyrs, with more than 400 wounded,” the Hamas news service reported, without mentioning the release of the four hostages.
“Our people will not surrender and will continue to resist to defend our rights in the face of this criminal enemy,” Haniyeh said. “If aggression [israelita] He believes that he can impose his decisions by force, then he is delusional”, he added.
According to figures from the Gaza Ministry of Health, 36,801 Palestinians have been killed and 83,680 injured in Israeli attacks since the start of the war.
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