2024-02-12 21:45:34
Israel rescued alive at dawn on Monday two Israeli hostages of Argentine nationality held captive in a building in the heart of Rafah, where some 1.4 million displaced people live in the southern tip of the Gaza Strip, amid intense bombardments that killed dozens of Gazans. The hostages are Argentine Fernando Simón Marman, 60, and Norberto Luis Har, 70, brothers-in-law between them and both kidnapped along with other relatives in the Nir Yitzhak kibbutz on October 7. Both are in good medical condition and were taken to Sheba Tel Hashomer Hospital for evaluation.
How was the operation?
The two hostages were rescued as part of a joint operation by the Army, the Shin Bet secret service and the Israel police. At 1:49 local time, Israeli special forces forced the entry of a building in the city of Rafah with explosives. In parallel, they carried out a distracting bombing in another part of the city. Bordering Egypt, Rafah was until now the last refuge for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians forcibly displaced in Gaza.
In that building, Palestinian fighters were holding Marman and Har, kidnapped on October 7, on the second floor, explained Israeli Army spokesman Daniel Hagari. The command “extracted Louis and Fernando from the apartment and evacuated them under fire” in Rafah “to a safe area,” Hagari detailed.
There they were examined by doctors before being taken by helicopter to Sheba Hospital in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, where they underwent medical tests, Hagari added. Rafah had until now been designated by the Israeli Army as a safe area for Palestinians. But the Hamas Health Ministry reported about 100 dead in Monday’s attacks in Rafah, including shelling of several buildings.
Around 3 a.m., Louis Har’s family received a call from the Israeli authorities. “They told us ‘we have Fernando and Luis, come see them at the hospital,'” said Idan Bejerano, Har’s son-in-law. Relatives drove to Sheba Hospital where the two men appeared to be fine. At that moment there were “many tears, hugs, but few words,” according to Bejerano.
The operation had been considered several times in recent times, but had always been canceled until early Monday morning. The hostages were on the second floor of a heavily guarded building., and the defense had additional guards in the adjacent building. Israeli forces clandestinely entered the compound and used explosives, intense fire, and very precise intelligence on the exact location of the hostages to rescue them without Hamas being able to kill them first.
Hostages in good condition
Sheba Medical Center issued a statement regarding the condition of the hostages: “Early in the morning, two Israeli hostages who were freed by our forces from the Gaza Strip arrived at Sheba Medical Center. After an initial medical examination, the condition of both are defined as good and stable”. The text adds that these are “delicate moments for the families and for those returned to Israel”, so “we ask to maintain their privacy and dignity, we are happy for their return home and we wish the return of all those kidnapped.”
From the medical center, Marman’s niece, Gefen Sigal Ilan, could not stop shaking after the announcement of her uncle’s release. “I’m shocked, when I saw it, I couldn’t believe it was true,” declared the 36-year-old woman, visibly moved, adding that the two men are “very thin, very pale.” For the hospital director, Arnon Afek, “the most emotional moment was the silent hugs” during the reunion. “I will remember this moment all my life,” Afek said.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant published a statement on the social network kidnapped in Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak. Together with the Commander-in-Chief and the high command, I followed the operation from the command center: full gratitude to the IDF, the Shin Bet and the IDF forces for a major operation and an execution of quality”.
Fernando Marman and Luis Har were taken hostage along with Clara Marman, 62, Fernando’s sister and Luis’s partner; in addition to his sister, Gabriela Leimberg, 59 years old, and her daughter, Mia Leimberg, 17 years old. Both the Leimbergs and Clara Marman were released on November 28 as part of a temporary one-week ceasefire agreement brokered by Qatar and the US between Hamas and Israel, a week of truce that allowed the exchange of 105 hostages by 240 Palestinian prisoners.
“Salute to our brave men”
This is Israel’s second successful hostage rescue, after recovering soldier Ori Megidish alive at the end of October when the ground operation began in the Gaza Strip, giving Prime Minister Netanyahu arguments to maintain military pressure. above the Hamas negotiations. “I salute our brave warriors for the bold action that led to liberation. Only the continuation of military pressure, until complete victory, will result in the release of all our hostages“, he indicated Netanyahu.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog also congratulated the forces on the nighttime operation in Rafah, invoking the words of medieval Jewish scholar Maimonides: “There is no greater mitzvah than the redemption of captives.” The Forum of Families of Hostages and Missing Persons celebrated the rescue of the two captives, although it again warned Netanyahu that “time is running out for the hostages still held in the hands of Hamas,” while they press for a new agreement to be negotiated. of truce that allows their release.
In addition to the three hostages rescued alive and 11 bodies of kidnapped people who died in captivity, 110 were freed by Hamas, 105 of them as part of the only truce agreement reached in November. There are 130 hostages kidnapped on October 7 left inside the Strip, of which it is estimated that around thirty are dead.
The armed wing of Hamas, the Ezedín al Qasem Brigades, announced this Monday the death of three other Israeli hostages as a result of the serious injuries they had allegedly suffered in recent attacks by the Israeli Army against Gaza. These are three of the eight captives who were seriously injured according to the Brigades.
On Sunday, the armed wing of the Islamist group said that two Israeli hostages had died and eight others had been seriously injured in the previous four days, as a result of bombing by the Israeli Army. The brigades explained that they will not identify the victims or publish photos of the bodies until “the fate of the rest of the injured is clarified.”