Israeli safety forces stated early Monday that that they had freed two hostages who have been being held within the southern Gazan metropolis of Rafah, in solely the second recognized rescue of its sort in Gaza for the reason that begin of the struggle. Officers in Gaza stated that accompanying Israeli strikes had killed dozens of Palestinians within the metropolis in a single day.
The hostages, Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70, have been present process exams at a hospital close to Tel Aviv and have been each in good situation, in keeping with a joint assertion from the Israeli navy, the police and the home safety company, Shin Wager.
“Fernando and Louis, welcome residence,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated in an announcement. “I salute our courageous fighters for the daring motion that led to their launch.”
Mr. Netanyahu’s workplace stated that Mr. Marman and Mr. Har have been each twin residents of Israel and Argentina. They have been amongst greater than 240 folks captured in the course of the shock Oct. 7 raid on southern Israel by Hamas and different militant teams. Israel stated it launched assaults in Rafah to offer cowl for the rescue.
The 2 males, wanting gaunt however not visibly harmed, cried and embraced relations who had come to be reunited with them at Sheba Medical Heart, in keeping with video launched by the Israeli navy.
Mr. Har was pale and “somewhat in shock,” in keeping with Idan Berjerano, his son-in-law, who visited him and spoke to Israel’s public broadcaster.
The Israeli navy stated that Mr. Marman and Mr. Har had been kidnapped from the identical home in Nir Yitzhak, a kibbutz close to the border with Gaza. They have been taken hostage together with different relations together with Clara Marman, who’s Mr. Marman’s sister and Mr. Har’s associate. Ms. Marman and the opposite relations have been freed in November as a part of a weeklong cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.
An Israeli information web site, Ynet, reported that the 2 males had instructed their captors that they have been Argentine and had tried to make dialog by speaking about soccer.
The rescue was the primary story within the Israeli information media, however the public response appeared extra muted than in November, when about 100 of the hostages have been launched in the course of the cease-fire. This appeared partly to mirror the data that greater than 100 folks remained in captivity.
“Not stopping until all of them come residence,” the group Carry Them House Now, which advocates for the discharge of the hostages, stated in a social media submit.
Final week, The New York Instances reported that Israeli intelligence officers had concluded that a minimum of 30 of the remaining 136 hostages had died for the reason that begin of the struggle.
Earlier than Monday, Israeli forces had stated they rescued a minimum of one hostage, Pvt. Ori Megidish, who was freed throughout a navy operation in October. However the navy has launched few particulars about that operation.
In December, the Israeli navy stated its forces had mistakenly killed three hostages in Gaza who had been waving a makeshift white flag.
With navy analysts saying that rescue operations should not the trail to releasing many of the captives, hostages’ households have been urgent Israel to prioritize negotiations for his or her launch. Final week, Mr. Netanyahu publicly rejected Hamas’s newest proposal for an additional pause in preventing that will permit for a few of the hostages being held by the militants to be launched. However Israeli officers have additionally signaled that their authorities was nonetheless open to negotiation.
Requested in an interview televised Sunday with ABC Information how lots of the remaining hostages have been nonetheless alive, Mr. Netanyahu stated, “Sufficient to warrant the sort of efforts that we’re doing.”
President Javier Milei of Argentina — who final week made his first state go to to Israel as president — thanked the Israeli navy for rescuing the 2 males. In an announcement on Monday, Mr. Milei’s workplace stated that he had raised the topic of Argentine hostages in his conferences with Israeli leaders.
Reporting was contributed by Gabby Sobelman, Myra Noveck and Cassandra Vinograd.
