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It was a helluva thing that Israeli Defense Forces accomplished in Gaza Sunday night, while people around the world were otherwise distracted by a celebrity-studded football game in Las Vegas.
IDF and Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, launched a daring raid into the southern Gaza Strip to rescue two older hostages, men ages 60 and 70, whom Hamas terrorists took 128 days ago. Based on «precise intelligence,» according to IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht — originally from Scotland — the operation breached a residential building where the hostages were known to be kept on the second floor.
Soldiers breached the building with explosives, and a firefight ensued inside the building and also outside as Hamas gunmen emerged from neighboring buildings. The IDF responded with armored vehicles and airstrikes. The IDF had prepared the rescue op for «some time,» according to Lt. Col. Hecht, and were obviously prepared for most anything.
That’s a lot of firepower to rescue just two hostages, but in the end, it worked. At least seven were killed in the raid, none from the IDF, Shin Bet, or the hostages. Only one IDF soldier was wounded, but not badly.
