Gaza hostage rescue: Daylight operation suggests IDF knew it had to move quickly
It became apparent something was afoot around mid-morning in Jerusalem.
In a rare statement, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it was “targeting terrorist infrastructure in the area of Nuseirat”.
Nuseirat, in central Gaza, is one of the few areas of the strip that Israeli ground troops have not operated in.
Around the same time, I was starting to receive texts about large numbers of injured and dead Gazans arriving at Al-Aqsa hospital – and reports from aid agencies that communications were down.
Gaza hostage rescue latest: Medics give update on freed Israelis
Video from Nuseirat market, where at least one of the raids took place, shows dozens of badly mutilated and bloody bodies strewn across rubble. It was clearly a violent and deadly mission. An Israeli officer in the elite Yamam counter-terror unit was also killed during the operation.
And then, just after half past one on the Jewish Shabbat (day of rest), the IDF announced the successful rescue of four hostages found alive.
The operation had reportedly been approved by Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, and Yoav Gallant, his defence minister, on Thursday evening.
In the end it was carried out at about 11am on Saturday. For the IDF to risk this during daylight hours suggests intelligence showed they had to move fast and in a narrow window.
Rumours that Hamas’s number two, Mohammed Deif, had been killed during the operation were denied by IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, but speculation continues about what else might have been achieved.
It has come as very good news for Israel, especially after a week during which hostage negotiations stalled to the point of collapse, and the UN said it was putting the IDF on a “list of shame” for its treatment of children in the conflict.
Footage of Noa Argamani hugging her father Yakov quickly went around the world. Saturday marks his birthday too – he couldn’t have asked for a better present.
Noa’s mother Liora, who is dying from advanced brain cancer, had previously released an emotional appeal asking President Biden to help bring her daughter home before she died. She will get her wish.
A video of a lifeguard announcing the news to cheering beachgoers in the town of Herzliya went viral.
For Mr Netanyahu, and the war cabinet, this vindicates their strategy of keeping military pressure on Hamas to achieve a favourable hostage deal.
It is a huge fillip to them and will bring great comfort to the families of remaining hostages praying for the return of their loved ones.
They will gather tonight in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, as they do every Saturday, but this time with something to celebrate – a respite from months of feeling ignored as they have demanded the government do more.
But this was the first successful rescue of living hostages for months and only the third in eight months of fighting.
Some 120 hostages remain in Gaza, many of them dead, and a negotiated deal with Hamas remains the best, and fastest, route to free them.
Hamas has not given a formal response to President Biden’s peace proposal of over a week ago, stubbornly sticking to its demand for a permanent ceasefire before any deal.
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It is too early to tell whether today’s events will change things.
Coincidentally, we assume, the rescue mission also came hours before retired army general Benny Gantz was due to announce the withdrawal of his National Unity political alliance from the wartime government.
He had threatened to quit if the government failed to adopt a new plan for the war in Gaza.
Gantz cancelled his statement in light of this news and it’s not clear, at the time of writing, whether he will reschedule or remain in government for now.