WASHINGTON, Palestinian Territories (AFP)— Israel said its forces rescued four hostages alive from a Gaza refugee camp on Saturday prompting centrist war cabinet minister Benny Gantz to delay a statement indefinitely that he is quitting the government.
The four Israelis had been kidnapped by the Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas from the Nova music festival during the October 7 attacks that sparked the war, the army said.
Noa Argamani, 25, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 40, had been “rescued… from two separate locations in the heart of Nuseirat” in a “complex daytime operation”, the military said, adding they were in “good medical condition”.
The military had said, shortly before announcing the rare hostage rescue, that troops were targeting “terrorist infrastructure” around the Nuseirat camp.
A Gaza hospital said heavy Israeli strikes in central areas of the territory, including in Nuseirat camp, killed at least 15 people on Saturday.
Hamas said there were “dozens of bodies of martyrs and wounded lying on the ground, in the streets, and in safe rooms” and accused Israeli forces of engaging in “brutal and savage aggression on Nuseirat camp”.
Videos of a helicopter transporting the hostages to medical facilities were released on social media.
The operation was authorized by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defense chief Yoav Gallant, Ynet reported.
The news prompted Gantz to delay his announcement to quit the government over differences with Netanyahu on Gaza. Gantz was due to give a statement on Saturday where he was widely expected to resign. Following the rescue operation, his office said the statement has been postponed without specifying another date.
