Israel and Hamas at war | The exfiltration of the hostages, everything happened in a few seconds

When they woke up last Saturday in Gaza, the four Israelis had been hostages of Hamas for 245 days. Nothing distinguished the buildings where they were detained, two squat concrete apartment buildings, from the other residences in this neighborhood populated by Palestinian families.

After weeks of planning, a few seconds made the difference in the rescue of the Israeli hostages.

A few hours later, the captives, three men and a woman, would be reunited with their families, following a risky and long-planned rescue operation, during which the full might of the Israeli army would be used with a devastating effect.

“I’m so moved,” Noa Argamani, 26, told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call after her release. “It’s been so long since I heard Hebrew. »

The rescue mobilized hundreds of intelligence agents and two commando teams, each storming one of the buildings where the hostages were being held, the Israeli army said.

In the apartment, where the men were imprisoned, a shootout broke out between Hamas soldiers and guards, according to the army and video footage it released. Later, in a hail of bullets, the truck in which three hostages and a wounded Israeli officer were being evacuated broke down and was surrounded by Palestinian fighters, Israeli officials said.

To provide cover for rescuers and allow them to lead the hostages to freedom, the air force struck dozens of nearby targets. Many Palestinians only became aware of the fighting when they heard the bombs explode.

Dozens of people, including children, were killed during the operation. Hamas health authorities estimate their number at more than 270, the Israeli army at less than 100. Neither the Israeli army nor Palestinian sources have detailed how many civilians and fighters were killed.

Preparations

Weeks before the raid, Israeli intelligence identified two buildings, approximately 200 m apart, in which they believed the hostages were being held.

In May, it was established that M^me Argamani (a video of her capture by Hamas at an October 7 music festival was posted online) was being held in a family’s apartment near the Nuseirat market, the rear admiral said. Daniel Hagari, spokesperson for the Israeli army.

Nearby, in another family’s apartment, were the three men, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41.

According to the Israeli army, the accommodation where the men were detained belonged to Abdallah Aljamal. Aljamal’s death was confirmed Sunday by the Gaza Strip government media office, which said he had worked for the Hamas-affiliated Palestine Now news agency.

During planning, the simultaneous attack on both buildings became necessary. “If we had chosen just one, the risk of the terrorists killing the hostages in the other would have been too high,” Admiral Hagari said.

In preparation for the mission, the military “built copies of these houses in order to practice,” Admiral Hagari said, adding that coordination between the two teams had to be “as precise as brain surgery.” , lest a mistake in one group lead to problems in the other.

The raid

On Saturday morning, as the sun approached its zenith, residents of Nuseirat left the heat of their buildings, going to work, shopping or visiting family.

“It was normal, the streets were full of life, people were shopping,” said Bayan Khaled abu Amr, 32, who had left home that morning to go to his uncle’s house.

80 km away, in Tel Aviv, Israeli officers were crowding the headquarters of the Shin Bet, the Israeli security agency. “The tension was very, very high,” Mr. Hagari said.

It was there, around 11 a.m., that General Herzi Halevi, army chief of staff, ordered commandos from the Israeli anti-terrorism unit YAMAM to launch the raid.

Two vehicles resembling local trucks drove off, each heading towards one of the two buildings where the hostages were being held.

Khalil abdul Qader al-Tahrawi, a 60-year-old shopkeeper, said he was sitting outside his store when he saw men wearing the uniforms of the Qassam Brigades, the militant wing of Hamas, approaching the building in which the three men were found detained.

The group, he said, seemed “suspicious and strange” to him. “They were climbing up the building with ladders and coming back down pointing their guns everywhere. » He said he thought they were Israeli commandos.

Other witnesses described men they believed to be members of European special forces, but dressed in civilian clothes. Israeli officials declined to say whether Israeli soldiers or agents had disguised themselves for the raid.

Shortly after the green light from General Halevi, the troops simultaneously invested the two buildings. Noa Argamani was locked in a locked room, and her captors were killed before they realized what was happening, Israeli officials said.

“In the Noa Argamani building, our forces completely surprised them,” said spokesperson Hagari.

The escape

As the team that freed Noa Argamani took her to a helicopter extraction point on Gaza’s Mediterranean coast, the team responsible for rescuing the three men in the other building came under enemy fire and Arnon Zmora, 36, an officer with the YAMAM unit, was shot and wounded, according to Hagari. Body camera footage released by Israeli authorities shows Israeli troops finding the three hostages in a residential building, during an exchange of fire with the adversary off-screen.

In these images, where the faces of the soldiers and the bloody images have been blurred, we see the hostages leaving the building and running in a wooded area, while a shootout breaks out around them.

“Hamas members shot at them,” said Mr. Al-Tahrawi, the store owner.

Other fighters joined the battle, “running through the streets with grenade launchers,” said spokesman Hagari, adding that the fire was heavy.

While M^me Argamani was approaching the beach in a vehicle when the other truck used to rescue the men broke down, according to Israeli officials who requested anonymity. To cover the disabled truck, the Air Force bombed the surrounding area, creating a shield of fire.

“Suddenly I heard a bomb explode very loudly and the sound of missiles around the mosque,” ​​said Mr.^me Abu Amr, the woman who had gone out to visit her uncle. “I don’t remember the exact time, but maybe 11:20.”

“Another very powerful missile fell and there was gray smoke,” added M.^me Abu Amr. People were screaming. » In the chaos of the bombing, “children were screaming, women were stumbling while running”.

Israeli ground forces stationed nearby went to the broken-down truck and transferred the hostages and the injured officer to another vehicle.

From there, they headed towards the beach, where a helicopter was waiting for them. A first helicopter had already taken off, taking M^me Argamani.

Images released by the army show soldiers accompanying the hostages on the beach while the helicopter raises a cloud of sand.

The results

The message “We have the diamonds in hand” was sent, diamonds being the name given to the hostages during the operation, spokesman Hagari said.

Officer Zmora was evacuated to an Israeli hospital, where he died of his injuries.

On Sunday, in the corridors of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah – the last major medical center still functional in central Gaza – many new patients were piled up, while more than 100 bodies were left there. had been brought in on Saturday, said Khalil Daqran, a hospital official.

Most of the bodies have since been buried or claimed by relatives, he added.

The medical center – already crowded before the Israeli rescue mission in Nuseirat – was overflowing, said the D^r Abdelkarim al-Harazin, 28, a doctor working there.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 700 people were injured.

This article was published in the New York Times.

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