Inside the daring mission to rescue four Israeli hostages in broad daylight

The mission had been planned for weeks and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it used the element of surprise to catch Hamas off guard.

Fox News has released new details about the daring daylight rescue of four Israeli hostages. The IDF described the mission as complex, high-risk and requiring absolute precision.

According to IDF Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the mission was planned for weeks based on "precise intelligence" and took place at around 11 a.m. on June 8 (local time) in the center of Nuseirat in central Gaza.

Soldiers from the National Police's special counter-terrorism unit Yamam, along with Shin Bet agents, simultaneously raided two Hamas buildings to rescue three male hostages and one female hostage to safety. Admiral Hagari said the soldiers had undergone weeks of intense training to prepare for the rescue mission.

4 hostages were rescued by the IDF on the morning of June 8. Photo: IDF

Noa Argamani, 26, was rescued at one location, while Almog Meir Jan, 22, Shlomi Ziv, 41, and Andrey Kozlov, 27, were rescued at another location. Argamani is one of the most notable hostages because the video of her kidnapping was one of the first released by Hamas.

Video footage of the rescue operation on Saturday morning shows the three hostages Meir Jan, Kozlov and Ziv running with Israeli forces to a waiting helicopter before it took off to take them to safety.

During the mission, Arnon Zmora, 36 years old, an officer of Yamam's special counter-terrorism unit, was seriously injured and later died from his injuries.

Also in the two raids, Mr. Hagari said nearly 100 Palestinians were killed, without specifying how many of them were Hamas gunmen.

According to the IDF, Hamas has been holding hostages inside civilian buildings and Israeli intelligence was able to pinpoint two of these buildings in Nuseirat.

The buildings were about 250 meters apart and Israeli forces decided to attack both buildings at the same time because they feared Hamas might kill hostages in one of the buildings if they saw the other building being attacked.

“This is a huge risk because they might think we are preparing for another raid,” Hagari stressed, adding that the decision to carry out the mission during the day was also intended to create an element of surprise because Hamas might not expect it.

“During the day, you take more risks to make sure you keep the element of surprise and we knew that inside that building, this would be our leverage,” Hagaari said.

The forces were ordered to raid at 11:25 a.m. Israeli forces exchanged gunfire with guards in the building where three male hostages were held. During the fighting, soldier Zmora was wounded and later died in hospital.

After leaving the building, the IDF vehicles were stuck due to fire from Hamas. Other special forces arrived in time to respond and rescue them.

The IDF decided to launch a daytime mission to surprise Hamas. Photo: IDF

According to Rear Admiral Hagari, at the time of the mission, the atmosphere in the command room was very tense as hundreds of soldiers from the surrounding area had to be mobilized to carry out the operation.

“It was like brain surgery. It had to be precise. Imagine the raid taking place on a street with a lot of people around. Hamas used civilians as shields when retreating,” Hagari recalled.

To prepare for the mission, Hagari said Israeli forces recreated models of buildings to practice the raid and gathered intelligence in “many ways” to ensure the operation would be successful.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant described the mission as one of the "most heroic and extraordinary operations" he had witnessed during his 47 years of service in the Israeli defense establishment.

“Our troops have shown great courage operating under heavy fire in the most complex urban environment in Gaza. I have never seen an operation of this magnitude, with this level of cooperation and success,” said Secretary Gallant proudly.

According to VNA/Tin Tuc Newspaper

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