Here’s How Israel’s Mission to Rescue Four
Hostages Unfolded
The operation required weeks of planning and received
the final go-ahead just a few minutes before it began, according to Israeli
officials.
Ronen
Bergman Aaron Boxerman
By Ronen
Bergman and Aaron Boxerman
June 8,
2024
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/08/world/middleeast/israel-mission-hostages-nuseirat.html
The Israeli
military’s mission to rescue four hostages was a rare operation that required
weeks of planning, and was given the final go-ahead just a few minutes before
it commenced on Saturday morning, according to Israeli officials.
Israeli
special forces, backed by the military, intelligence and air force, raided two
buildings several hundred feet apart in a neighborhood in Nuseirat, in central
Gaza. They brought home the four hostages — Noa Argamani, 26; Almog Meir Jan,
22; Andrey Kozlov, 27; and Shlomi Ziv, 41 — alive and in good medical
condition. One police officer, part of the force that led the raid, was killed.
Scores of
Palestinians, including women and children, were killed during the rescue
operation, according to local Gaza health officials. The Israeli military said
it had targeted militants who had threatened its forces as they sought to
extract the hostages. Neither the Israeli military nor Palestinian health
officials provided a breakdown of civilians and combatants killed in the raid.
Israeli
troops have swept through much of Gaza since their ground invasion began in
late October. But they have managed to rescue only seven living hostages in
three separate military operations, with roughly 120 captives remaining in
Gaza. Several proposed rescue missions did not go forward for fear that the
hostages or the forces would die in the process, according to two Israeli
defense officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive
operation.
In
December, Israeli special forces tried to rescue a hostage from Hamas
captivity, according to the two defense officials. Sahar Baruch, an Israeli
hostage, was killed during the exchange of fire and two Israeli officers were
seriously wounded.
According
to one of the defense officials, Israeli intelligence first learned that Ms.
Argamani was being held in an aboveground building near the market area of
Nuseirat. More information received later indicated that three other hostages
were in another building in the same section, the official added.
Rear Adm.
Daniel Hagari, Israel’s military spokesman, said Israeli officers had worked
for weeks to assemble the necessary pieces for the mission. Israeli soldiers
trained intensively based on models of the buildings where the hostages were
believed to be held, he added.
“This was a
mission in the heart of a civilian neighborhood, where Hamas had intentionally
hidden among homes where there were civilians and armed militants guarding the
hostages,” Admiral Hagari said. “And we must act in a way that brings those
hostages home alive.”
Over the
past three weeks, there were several occasions when it seemed possible to carry
out the operation, but all of the attempts were canceled, before Israeli forces
were set to launch the mission, the two Israeli defense officials said.
On
Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and Yoav Gallant, the
Israeli defense minister, met with senior defense officials again to discuss
the operation’s risks and the possible scenarios, said a third Israeli
official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The
country’s leaders greenlit the rescue mission that night, the official said.
But it still stood a chance of being canceled at the last minute, Admiral
Hagari said.
On Saturday
morning, Herzi Halevi, the military’s chief of staff, and Ronen Bar, the
director of Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence service, both gave the final
go-ahead just a few minutes before the operation started around 11 a.m.,
Admiral Hagari said.
He added
that they chose to move in the daylight, bearing down on the two buildings in
Nuseirat, in an attempt to catch Hamas off guard since the armed group might
expect such an operation to take place at night.
The raid
started simultaneously in both buildings, where the hostages were in locked
rooms surrounded by armed guards, Admiral Hagari said. In one building — where
Ms. Argamani was being held — the officers managed to take her Hamas captors by
surprise, he said. In the other, Israeli forces engaged in a difficult
firefight before reaching the remaining three hostages, he added.
As they
recovered the captives, the officers announced by radio that “the diamonds are
in our hands,” using an assigned code word, Admiral Hagari said.
They exited
the buildings with Hamas militants shooting at them and firing rocket-propelled
grenades, Admiral Hagari said. The officers shielded the hostages with their
bodies to try to protect them, and Israeli aircraft struck in and around the
area, targeting the militants, he added.
Khalil
Daqran, a local official at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah, told
reporters that many Palestinians were killed and wounded during strikes near
the Nuseirat market, which he said had been packed with passers-by.
Admiral
Hagari said that he had been told the military was aware of Palestinian
casualties resulting from the operation, and that he could not confirm how many
were militants. He added that Hamas had sought to fire at Israeli forces from
behind civilians.
He added
that “the cynical way that Hamas is using the population also to fire at our
forces” was “tragic.”
The
hostages were taken by car to two awaiting helicopters, Admiral Hagari said.
One carried Ms. Argamani and the special forces officers. The second ferried
the three remaining hostages and an injured police commander, who would later
die from his wounds.
Around 1:30
p.m., the Israeli government announced that the four hostages were home.
Ronen
Bergman is a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, based in Tel Aviv.
His latest book is “Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel’s
Targeted Assassinations,” published by Random House. More about Ronen Bergman
Aaron
Boxerman is a Times reporting fellow with a focus on international news. More about Aaron Boxerman
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