Four hostages kidnapped at Nova Festival released in Gaza raid

Four hostages kidnapped by Hamas have been reunited with their families after being rescued in a raid that Palestinian authorities said left dozens of people dead.

Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrei Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41, were released on Saturday, eight months after their abduction at the Nova music festival on October 7.

Israeli forces, supported by airstrikes, engaged in fierce firefights with Hamas in the Nuseirat region, in what the Israel Defense Forces called a “high-risk, complex mission.”

Palestinian officials believe that numerous people were killed in the operation.

Two hospitals in the Gaza Strip, Al-Aqsa Hospital and Al-Awda Hospital, reported counting a total of 70 bodies. Hamas’ media office said at least 210 people were killed in Israeli attacks in and around al-Nuseirat refugee camp.

Israel estimates fewer than 100 casualties, said IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari.

Pictures from the area show heavy bombing. Hospitals there said they were overwhelmed with the number of victims, including children, and could not treat them all. Other photos show people mourning the dead.

The rare hostage rescue – a joint operation by the Israeli Defense Forces, Israel’s domestic intelligence service and the Israeli police – came eight months after the start of the war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said the mission was based on “accurate” intelligence and the hostages were freed from two different buildings in Nuseirat.

The Israeli forces came under fire during the operation, he said. A special forces officer was injured during the hostage rescue in Gaza and later died in hospital, Israeli police said.

The Israeli military said all of the released hostages were in good health. They were later photographed embracing family members at a medical center near Tel Aviv.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the Israeli military for its “creative and courageous” actions.

“We will not stop until we have accomplished the mission and brought all hostages home – both the living and the dead,” he added.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said special forces operated “under heavy fire” in rescuing the four hostages.

“This is one of the most heroic and extraordinary operations I have witnessed in my 47 years in the Israeli defense establishment,” said Mr. Gallant.

Miss Argamani, a Chinese-born Israeli citizen, was kidnapped at the Nova Festival. In harrowing video footage from October 7, the 26-year-old can be seen being taken away on the back of a motorcycle, screaming: “Don’t kill me!”

Shortly after news of the rescue on Saturday, a new video was aired showing her being reunited with her father in a vehicle as she smiles and hugs him.

Mr Kozlov, a Russian who moved to Israel in 2022, and Mr Ziv had both been working as security guards at the festival when they were kidnapped.

Mr. Jan was supposed to start a new job at a large technology company the day after his kidnapping.

The headquarters of the Hostages Families Forum, a group representing the hostages’ families, called the rescue “a miraculous triumph” and thanked the Israeli army for the “heroic operation.”

The group added: “The Israeli government must remember its obligation to release all 120 hostages still held by Hamas – the living for rehabilitation, the murdered for burial.”

While there was jubilation in Israel, images and videos showed deaths, injuries and destruction in the region, including around the al-Nuseirat refugee camp.

According to BBC Verify, the Israeli attacks appear to have occurred in several locations in central Gaza, but Nuseirat – the site of the Israeli operation to free four hostages – appears to have been hit hardest.

A video from Al-Aqsa Hospital shows numerous injured people lying on the floor, while other videos show a regular influx of new patients being brought in by cars and ambulances and carried into the building.

The Hamas government’s media office said at least 400 people were injured in the densely populated area.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss what he called the “bloody massacre perpetrated by Israeli forces in al-Nuseirat refugee camp and its surrounding area.”

The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said on X: “The reports from Gaza of another massacre of civilians are horrifying.

“We condemn this in the strongest possible terms. The bloodbath must stop immediately.”

The rescue of the hostages took place in the context of efforts between Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire and an agreement on the release of the hostages.

Netanyahu has been urged to reach an agreement, but faces resistance from far-right allies who say military action is the only way to release the hostages.

Saturday’s operation is the most successful hostage rescue by the Israeli military in this war – and could change the calculations of a prime minister who is increasingly under pressure.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz has cancelled a press conference scheduled for Saturday.

World leaders, including US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, welcomed the news of the hostage release.