Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) successfully rescued four hostages from Hamas captivity on Saturday morning. The rescued hostages including, Noa Argamani, Almog Meir, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv, had been held since their kidnapping on October 7 from the Nova Musical Festival.
Israel's President Isaac Herzog expressed immense happiness and gratitude upon hearing the news. He stated, "We received with tears in our eyes the very moving news about the rescue from the captivity of Noa Argamani, Almog Meir, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv, who were kidnapped on October 7th from the party in Ra'i and who were finally reunited with their loved ones."
Israel's President thanks IDF
President Herzog extended his thanks to the Israeli forces for their daring rescue operation and expressed hope for the swift return of all remaining abductees. "On behalf of the entire people of Israel, I thank the IDF, the Shin Bet, the Israel Police, and the Israel Defense Forces for an impressive and daring rescue operation, and I wish for the speedy return of all our abductees to their families. Israel Lives!" he added.
Following the rescue, President Herzog shared a video of one of the freed hostages, stating, "Noah, how good you came home."
IDF releases statement
The IDF also released a statement from Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, detailing the complexities of the operation. "While we are happy that our four hostages are home, we will not lose sight that 120 hostages are still being held by Hamas in Gaza, men, women, children. When we say that we will do everything to bring our hostages back home, we mean it," Hagari said. He emphasized that Israel will continue to fight for the freedom of all hostages, as any decent country would.
"This was a high-risk complex mission based on precise intelligence conducted in daylight in two separate buildings deep inside Gaza. While under fire, under fire inside the buildings, under fire on the way out from Gaza, our forces rescued our hostages," Hagari explained. He noted that Israeli forces had been preparing for the rescue mission for weeks, undergoing intensive training and risking their lives to save the hostages.
The successful operation brought an end to 246 days of captivity for the hostages. The operation highlighted Israel's commitment to rescuing its citizens and maintaining the safety and security of its people.
(With ANI Inputs)
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