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Israel said Saturday it rescued four hostages who were kidnapped in the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, the largest such recovery operation since the war began in Gaza. At least 55 Palestinians including children were killed as heavy fighting continued around the sites in central Gaza, the Health Ministry said.
Israel’s army said it rescued Noa Argamani, 25; Almog Meir Jan, 21; Andrey Kozlov, 27; and Shlomi Ziv, 40, in two locations in a complex daytime operation in the heart of Nuseirat on Saturday morning, raiding the two places at once and under fire.
Argamani had been one of the most widely recognized hostages after being abducted from a music festival in southern Israel. The video of her abduction was among the first to surface, with Argamani detained between two men on a motorcycle as she screamed, « Don’t kill me! »
Her mother, Liora, has stage four brain cancer and in April released a video pleading to see her daughter before she dies.
An elated Argamani spoke by phone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In an audio message released by the government, Netanyahu is heard asking how she’s feeling. She tells him she is « very excited, » saying she hasn’t heard Hebrew in so long.
