Israeli security forces said early Monday they rescued two hostages being held in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, in one of the few examples of a successful hostage rescue in Gaza since the war began.
The hostages, Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70, were being examined at a hospital in Tel Aviv and were both in good condition, according to a joint statement by the Israeli army, police and domestic security service , Shin. Bet.
The statement came as Israel said it had carried out a “wave” of attacks in Rafah, a bustling city on the Egyptian border where more than a million Palestinian refugees anxiously await an Israeli ground invasion. The military later said the strikes, which local news media reported killed at least a dozen people, were a diversion to enable its troops to free the hostages.
Mr Marman and Mr Har were among more than 240 people arrested during a surprise raid by Hamas and other militants in southern Israel on October 7, which later prompted Israel to retaliate with massive air and ground strikes. invasion of Gaza. The statement said the two men were arrested from Nir Yitzhak, near the Gaza border. No other details were immediately available.
Israel is discussing plans to send troops to Rafah, even as aid groups, the United Nations and the United States have warned that people fleeing there have nowhere to go. Egypt has so far refused to accept Palestinian refugees.
About 100 of the hostages taken in October were released during a week-long ceasefire last year. Last week, the New York Times reported that Israeli intelligence officers had concluded that at least 30 of the remaining 136 hostages had died since the war began. Before Monday’s operation, Israeli forces had said they had rescued at least one hostage.
The families of the hostages are pressing Israel to prioritize negotiations for their release. Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly rejected Hamas’ latest proposal for a new ceasefire that would have allowed the release of some of the hostages held by the militants.
But Israeli officials have also indicated that their government is still open to negotiations, and Mr Netanyahu said in a television interview on Sunday that his government was working on a plan to evacuate people from Rafah.
Asked during the ABC News interview how many of the remaining hostages were still alive, Mr Netanyahu said: “Enough to justify the kind of efforts we are making.”
“We will try our best to get back everyone who is alive and, frankly, the bodies of the dead,” he added.
