Israel rescues 4 hostages from Gaza: Here’s what we know
Four hostages kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7 were rescued via a Saturday special operation by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Israel Police and Israel Securities Authority, according to a joint statement from the groups.
According to The Associated Press, the operation was the largest recovery of hostages who were alive since the beginning of the current war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Here’s what you need to know about the newly-rescued hostages:
Noa Argamani
Argamani was one of the four hostages rescued Saturday that were kidnapped from the Nova music festival, according to the IDF. She could be seen in a video being made to get onto a motorbike by multiple men following her capture alongside her boyfriend, according to The Associated Press. In the video, she screamed “Don’t kill me!” with an arm out.
A later video released by Hamas in January showed her talking about fellow hostages killed via airstrikes, according to the AP. She appeared gaunt in the video, according to the outlet.
Argamani’s mother, Liora Argamani, has stage four brain cancer, according to the AP. Liora begged to see her daughter once more in a video from last November, according to CNN.
“I don’t know how long I have left. I wish for the chance to see my Noa at home,” Liora Argamani said, according to CNN.
A video posted by the The Hostages and Missing Families Forum on the social platform X Saturday purported to show Argamani and her father reuniting “after months apart.”
Almog Meir Jan
Like Argamani, Meir Jan was kidnapped from the Nova festival. According to a post on X by the IDF, he only “wanted to celebrate with his friends, but his reality drastically changed to 245 days of captivity.”
According to CNN, Meir Jan is from a city outside of Tel Aviv, one of the largest cities in Israel. On Oct. 8, he would have begun a new job at a technology company.
“I couldn’t stop hugging him,” Orit Meir, Meir Jan’s mother, said to a news conference on Saturday, according to CNN. “Tomorrow is my birthday so I got my present.”
Andrey Kozlov
According to a post on X by the IDF, Kozlov “was working security at the Nova music festival.”
“While ensuring the safety of the partygoers, his own safety was compromised when he was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists,” the IDF post reads. “Today is the day Andrey was released from captivity and can finally return to safety.”
Kozlov is a citizen of Russia, according to CNN, and came to Israel a year ago. Following his release, he had a phone call with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in which he talked about his Hebrew improving while he was captive, according to The Associated Press.
Shlomi Ziv
Another post by the IDF on X stated that Ziv was “was working as security director at the [Nova] festival when he was brutally taken hostage for 245 days.”
“We brought him home today back to his wife and family,” the post continued. “We will continue operating to bring all our hostages home.”
Per CNN, Ziv had lived in a local agricultural community for over half a decade.
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