Israel said on Saturday that its military forces rescued four hostages in the Gaza Strip who were kidnapped during the attack by Hamas militants last October.
The rescues came as at least 93 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the same area of Gaza, in one of the bloodiest single attacks of the war, according to reports.
It was not immediately clear if the hostage freeings and the air assault were related, but both took place in Nuseirat in central Gaza.
The Israeli military rescued the captives in a special daytime operation in a residential area in Nuseirat, the Israel Defense Forces said in a posting on X. The IDF said the rescued hostages — Noa Argamani, 25; Almog Meir Jan, 21; Andrey Kozlov, 27; and Shlomi Ziv, 40 — were in good medical condition and have been transferred to the Sheba Tel-HaShomer Medical Center for further examinations.
Hamas kidnapped some 250 hostages during its attack on southern Israel in October. About half were released in a weeklong cease-fire in November, according to reports.
The hostages, who were kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, were rescued in two separate locations in Nuseirat, the IDF said. One Israeli special forces soldier was reportedly killed during the operation.
“We will continue to make every effort to bring the hostages home,” the IDF said.
Israel says more than 130 captives remain, with about a quarter of those believed dead, and divisions are deepening in the country over the best way to bring them home.
Saturday’s operation was the largest recovery of alive hostages since the war began, bringing the total of rescued captives to seven.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Israeli forces for operating “creatively and bravely” in the rescue operation. We will not let up until we complete the mission and return home all the hostages — both those alive and dead,” Netanyahu said.
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