Israeli forces free four hostages in Gaza
“Hostages Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv were all kidnapped at the Nova festival October 7 and were rescued in an Israeli operation preceded by several weeks of intelligence gathering, reports Ha’Aretz this Saturday June 8. According to Palestinian sources, dozens of people were killed during the operation, including women and children. adds the left-wing Israeli daily, at the top of its article.
The Jerusalem Post (more conservative) evokes “a daring operation” and even “heroic” carried out jointly by the Shin Bet intelligence service and Yamam, an anti-terrorism unit, in two different locations “in the heart (from the refugee camp) of Nuseirat”. A soldier from this unit was seriously injured and hospitalized, the Israeli army said.
This operation is part of the framework “a vast offensive” of the Israeli army in the center of the Gaza Strip, adds Ha’Aretz. Until there, “three hostages were rescued in military operations in the Gaza Strip”, one in November and two last February, recalls the newspaper.
At least fifty Palestinians killed
“We will continue to do everything to bring back the 120 hostages still held in Gaza. We will reach you, we are convinced, and this operation will not end until you return home,” Army spokesman Daniel Hagari said on television.
“The return of these captives will be presented to the Israelis as a real success,” predicts the Qatari channel Al Jazeera, which recalls that before the operation, “Prime Minister Netanyahu was under enormous pressure from the Hostage and Missing Families Forum to commit to a ceasefire to bring all these people back to Israel.”
Al Jazeera highlights the human cost of the operation, with at least fifty Palestinians killed according to a source from the health authorities in the Gaza Strip, under the control of Hamas. A figure which was not mentioned by Israeli officials, adds the channel based in Qatar, a country close to the Palestinian Islamist movement.
