Four Israeli hostages freed in raid in central Gaza – BBC News

Updated 9 minutes ago

Four Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas from the Nova music festival during the group’s 7 October attacks have been rescued, Israel’s army has announced.

Those rescued are Noa Argamani, 25, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrei Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 40, the Israel Defense Forces said.

They were rescued in a joint “complex” daytime operation, conducted with Israel Securities Authority and Israel Police, from two separate locations in Nuseirat, central Gaza, the IDF said.

They are in good medical condition and have been transferred to the ‘Sheba’ Tel-HaShomer Medical Center for further medical examinations, the IDF said.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says dozens of people, including children, have been killed and injured in the operation.

Staff at the Al-Aqsa hospital are said to be struggling to treat the casualties.

“Dozens of injured people are lying on the ground and medical teams are trying to save them with the simple medical capabilities they have,” the ministry said on Facebook.

Argamani, a Chinese-born Israeli citizen, was also kidnapped from the festival. Video footage – verified by her father Yaakov Argamani to Israel’s Channel 12 – shows the 25-year-old being taken away on the back of a motorbike screaming, “Don’t kill me!”

Fresh footage of Argamani reunited with her father, smiling and embracing him on board a vehicle was broadcast soon after news of the rescue operation on Saturday.

Kozlov, a Russian who moved to Israel in 2022, had been working as a security guard at the festival.

Jan tried to flee the festival. He and a friend made it to the friend’s car but only managed to drive a short distance before being forced to stop.

Ziv was part of the security detail at the festival and was initially in contact with his sisters as the attack unfolded, according to an interview with The Times of Israel.