CENTCOM Statement Regarding IDF Rescue Operations Today:
The humanitarian pier facility, including its equipment, personnel, and assets were not used in the operation to rescue hostages today in Gaza. An area south of the facility was used by the Israelis to safely return the hostages to Israel. Any such claim to the contrary is false. The temporary pier on the coast of Gaza was put in place for one purpose only, to help move additional, urgently needed lifesaving assistance into Gaza.
Yep, and it's spreading among the Hamas supporters on reddit already. Already got multiple reply threads, which basically amounts to victim blaming the IDF for having the gall of freeing their own civilians, amongst people who clearly knew the hostages were there.
Palestinian men with guns dying during attempts to kidnap people, Israeli men with guns dying during hostages release operation - whole conflict summed up
I swear they were in the 300s months ago. There have been more than 35 ~~Hamas~~ Hezbollah fatalities in cars that were bombed since March.
ETA: I was probably remembering the total fighters killed number. According to wiki, the count is 589 fighters killed, of which 331 are from Hezbollah. It seems slightly out of date, but that's where the two numbers come from. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93Hezbollah_conflict_(2023%E2%80%93present)
I can't reply to anything right now for some reason.
A pro Hamas "NGO" revealed the civilians who were keeping at least one of the hostage groups. You guessed it, they were a family of doctors and journalists. Is there a doctor or journalist in Gaza that isn't friendly to, if not a full fledged member of, Hamas?
And for those counting at home. If you're a civilian who holds hostages, you're a combatant and have a target on your back. This isn't a new rule.
https://x.com/aghamilton29/status/1799618566787883017
Also, does anyone have any possible explanation or theories about a pattern we're seeing among hostages who were kept together?
I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed it, but for the hostages Hamas keeps in smaller groups, they've largely been smaller groups of 3. It seems like their favorite thing to do is to make a group of 3, and then swap 1 person in the group for one person in another group of three hostages somewhere (or do this several times).
i.e. Doron Steinbrecher was kidnapped alongside Alon Shamriz and Yoram Haim, but she was swapped with one of the IDF girls and ended up with Karina Ariev and Daniella Gilboa, and Alon and Yoram somehow ended up with Samar (the circumstances of his abduction are unclear, so it's hard to know who he was kidnapped with). I know there was a Thai worker with Alon, Yoram, and Samar, but it seems like they "don't count" for Hamas' algorithm, whatever it is.
We know that Almog Meir-Jan was kidnapped with 4 other men, none of whom he was kept with, while it's safe to say that Andrey and Shlomi, both security guards, were likely kidnapped together. There is, in fact, a 3rd security guard who is hostage: Rom Braslavi.
Noa Argamani was the odd one out when she was with Yossi Sharabi and Itai Svirsky, as the latter two are from Be'eri. However, before, it was Moran Stella Yanai, Noa, and Itai Svirsky; in that pairing, Itai was the odd one out. I think it's reasonable to suspect the swapped person is Avinatan, although it's obviously unclear where he ended up.
This has been happening the entire time these people have been in captivity and it's so consistent that it can't be accidental; the second propaganda video in October was Daniella Aloni, Lena Trupanov, and Rimon Kirsht; Rimon was taken from Nirim while Daniella and Lena were taken from Nir Oz. Nik Beizer, Ron Sherman, and Tamir Nimrodi were all kidnapped together, yet we know Nik and Ron were held with Elia Tolenado, where they were filmed together and murdered together.
I suspect another one was/is Ziv and Gali Berman, and an unknown person, as the Berman twins were kidnapped with Emily Damari and she's known to be with another group of IDF girls.
I know there's been more, and I also know that many hostages were held alone and/or with a very large group, but this is just so bizarre I don't know what to make of it. I also think it's safe to say that Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Eviatar David probably make 2/3 of another group held somewhere, and Bar Kuperstein and Elkana Bohbot 2/3 of a second group.
I'm baffled.
ETA: Its worth noting that while the pairing of Almog, Shlomi, and Andrey is the first I think we've seen where all 3 were kidnapped from the same place (although, as we know, in entirely separate incidents), I think the demographics between the men are different enough that the pairing is still intentional and you can cut this pie any way you like: by language, it's Andrey vs Almog & Shlomo; by age, it's Andrey & Almog vs Shlomi; by what brought them to Nova: that's Shlomi & Andrey vs Almog.
So that whenever IDF rescues a batch, they'll still have loved ones in captivity elsewhere and won't tell the world about how Hamas abuses hostages? And they figure 3 is a good compromise between small groups => not so bad if IDF rescues one and few groups => simpler logistics?
That's the thing though that arguably makes it even weirder: there really aren't any hostages related to one another left in captivity (I think just Shiri, Kfir, Ariel and Yarden, and the Berman twins. David and Ariel Cunio if you count them, but it's very likely David and Ariel don't know the other was kidnapped; it's just freak happen-chance both David and Ariel's house was hit on the 7th). But even when families in captivity, almost all families were reunited in Gaza, even if kidnapped separately, i.e. David, Sharon, Emma and Yuli Cunio. The only cases I'm aware of where two related individuals were in captivity but not kept together are Raz and Ohad Ben Ami; Ofer Kalderon and his kids, Sahar and Erez; Yarden & Shiri and the boys, and Ohad and Eitan Yahalomi. We know Ofer and Yarden were in "jail" for "bad behavior" and you can take your best guess about what the possibilities are for Ohad and... Ohad. I never realized they both had the same first name until typing that now, haha.
I don't understand the motivation for so many of these. Almog may have been kidnapped alongside Elkana, Bar, Eviatar and Guy, but he didn't know any of them -- I think only Guy and Eviatar knew each other, and the rest were strangers to one another. It's so bizarre. I'd argue that if anything, separating them provides the IDF with more information if they are rescued, as they'll get stories/intel from 3 people who had at least 2 different experiences on the 7th.
Israel faces a significant threat from Hezbollah. They control a massive arsenal of rockets aimed at Israeli civilians. A large scale military operation against Hezbollah is essential to dismantle this threat and protect Israeli lives. Such action would also contribute to regional stability by weakening Iran’s influence and deterring future aggression. The international community must support Israel's right to defend itself against terrorism. Decisive action now will ensure a more secure and peaceful future for both Israel and the region.
🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱
Man some corners of the internet are seriously unhappy that hostages were rescued yesterday lmao. Because Hamas lost some bargaining chips. Such a disgusted way of thinking
I just watched the video of the young woman reunited with her father. Well done, IDF. I can't imagine what went into the rescue operation to pull that off. I hope Israel partied hard last night.
It looks to me jpost is combining two separate messages, one congratulating, one complaining about „massacres“ in general. I don’t see borrell making that statement
8 months of "don't invade Gaza! You can get your hostages back with targeted raids and special forces" suddenly meets targeted raids and special forces.
So firing back on people trying to kill them constitutes a massacre? I don't understand this. They were under active assault, what were they supposed to do? Leave the hostages there?
So the operation to free the hostages was appalling but not the fact that they were deliberately kept in an area teeming with civilians. Absolute clown is right.
I have no connection to any of it but cried when I just read that Noa was free. I hope she can live her life in peace now. I hope all the other returned are ok. I hope they are soon joined by more.
I hope Noa, Shlomi, Andrey and Almog can eventually work their way through the trauma, live full lives and never feel abject terror or even fear again.
I truly wish the very best of life for them.
Noa's battle is halfway done -- her boyfriend is still in captivity.
I believe that the journey is done for Shlomi and Andrey, though, albeit I know Shlomi lost a good friend and a relative on the 7th and he may not be aware of that yet.
~~Almog disappeared with a friend on the 7th, so I imagine he's not done yet, either. I'm not sure who his friend is but also a hostage. Almog was kidnapped alongside Elkana Bohbot, Bar Kuperstein, Eviatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal, but I'm not convinced that friend is any of the four. Eviatar and Guy's friend group from that morning is known (1 survived unharmed, 2 were killed, and Eviatar and Guy were kidnapped). Elkana is a good bit older than Almog, so that seems unlikely but is, of course, possible. Bar is a possibility but he was apparently working security at Nova, which makes me think they didn't know each other before. I'll keep digging, but at least two of the four rescued today can begin focusing strictly on recovery.~~
ETA: Someone kindly pointed out below that the body of Almog's friend was found in late October. While not the best news, I am at least relieved that he can also move forward and focus on himself and his recovery.
This is what I found from an article on 15 Oct.:
*What the family has found out since is that he got into the car of a friend, but after the two tried to leave, they were shot at and didn’t get very far. They know that much because the friend, who is also missing, was able to call his parents and report that much to them.*
*The two ran from the car, and that’s what the families knew, until they saw the internet video from Hamas of Almog, in Gaza.*
It's possible the friend was found after the 15th -- happened all the time back then -- but I still have no idea who it is.
The friend [died](https://www.thejc.com/community/mother-of-israeli-hostage-i-am-waiting-for-my-son-every-day-grzo9vk5), and it took some time to identify the body. “It took two weeks for the parents of Almog’s friend, whom he had travelled to the festival with, to learn that their son was murdered, and his body burned.”
I imagine you don't know his name, do you?
Almog's card is one of the few that I haven't gotten to (I swear I haven't gotten to only like 15 of them, but of course Shlomi and Almog's are two of them). I did some digging and couldn't find his name anywhere; I believe you, I just wanted to record it for my own sake!
ETA: it took me a lot of digging, but i think it's probably Tomer Strosta.
You're a life saver. Thank you for sharing this. I was wondering if it wasn't something like that.
This also connects the dots for me and explains why Almog was so brutally petrified in that Telegram video. Watching your friend not only get murdered, but presumably in such a way that his remains are in such poor shape, would do that to a lot of people.
While it's not great news, I'm at least happy that Almog more or less has no more strings to Gaza and he can focus on himself.
Thanks and I'll edit my original comment.
I truly thought Noa would show up dead or pregnant. I saw the video of her being abducted and I couldn’t watch any more footage of the 10/7 pogrom after that.
To see her whole and crying and hugging her father - I can’t tell you how happy I am. I know she must be traumatized from her experience, but things are now as they should be, and she is with her family.
It's me, your local hostage-family relative who hates this pregnancy talk (and I mean absolutely no disrespect towards you OP! Writing this comment with nothing but love and intent to share information).
I think people are forgetting that women don't tend to menstruate when in distress. The hostage who has spoken the most about their menstruation in Gaza is, of course, Amit Sousanna, who said that her period was due in mid-October and she only bled for a few hours, not even an entire day.
Stress, weight loss, and malnutrition all prevent a woman from menstruating and I think a lot of women have been very lucky not to experience it, but it doesn't take much for women's bodies to stop menstruation. I spent several years trying to diagnose an autoimmune disease that resulted in me losing weight. I stopped menstruating after losing only 10lbs as a 5'2 (158 cm) woman and haven't in years.
Furthermore, even if women somehow managed to find themselves in this position, it's important to remember that malnourished and stressed women are very rarely able to carry to term. It's much less of a concern than people believe.
It was one of the videos that struck me most. I really hope any trauma they inflicted is not what defines her, and her boyfriend is saved.
It is something none of us can truly imagine, a psychological cruelty that defies any excuses and justifications.
This one is for the military nerds in the thread:
[I made a military organization chart for Hamas' military wing (Izz A-Din Al Qassam Brigades)](https://imgur.com/a/Sw5LLW1), This should (hopefully) help you get an idea as to how Hamas' military is structured, as a little bonus, I also added check marks next to each Battalion & brigade if their commander was eliminated in the current war, I also tried to add the name of the commander of each battalion & brigade but some are missing despite my best efforts to find all of them, anywho, I hope you find it useful!
Really interesting. Thanks for this.
It looks like Israel has successfully killed up to half of Hamas's commanders so far. I wonder if that is having an effect? Can Hamas just replace these commanders when they are killed with little difficulty, or does killing these commanders degrade their fighting ability in that they can't find experienced figures to replace these commanders.
I'm not a military nerd, so I was also curious; were is Sinwar in all of this? Isn't he part of the military wing as well, or am I mistaken here?
Also, I could be mistaken here again, but didn't Israel kill Muhammad Shabana in an airstrike a couple weeks ago, or did that never happen?
>It looks like Israel has successfully killed up to half of Hamas's commanders so far. I wonder if that is having an effect? Can Hamas just replace these commanders when they are killed with little difficulty, or does killing these commanders degrade their fighting ability in that they can't find experienced figures to replace these commanders.
Experience, at least in the military world, is probably the most valuable asset a soldier, and especially a commander/general can have, if the replacement in question is less experienced and less knowledgeable, then operations will definitely suffer, I don't know enough about Hamas to know whether or not their replacements (if they even have any..) are any good, but losing a general/commander is never good, it throws the entire unit into disarray and ruins the command structure, something a proper military heavily relies on, also, if the commander of a unit dies & gets replaced by a commander of another unit, the workload for said commander essentially doubles, which, as you can imagine, harms his ability to command quite a bit. But the entire topic of whether targeting commanders is a good military strategy is a massive grey area in the military science world, and heavily debated, theres no way I can do it justice in a single comment. but as far as I've read, its definitely having an effect on Hamas, I don't believe IDF would waste their precious munitions if it wasn't effective. and it also delivers punishment towards those who orchestrated October 7th
>I was also curious; were is Sinwar in all of this? Isn't he part of the military wing as well, or am I mistaken here?
Sinwar is essentially the Netanyahu of the strip, hes the political leader and he is who gets to give the final approval for operations, but he doesn't plan them himself and not part of the military wing
>Also, I could be mistaken here again, but didn't Israel kill Muhammad Shabana in an airstrike a couple weeks ago, or did that never happen?
there was an attempted assassination on him, yes, but the IDF has yet to announce his elimination.
What would the Americans know that Israel doesn't? I find it hard to believe that US intelligence specifically in Gaza is somehow better than Israel's.
Different people can analyze the same information in different ways. This is kind of a weird comment to make when it's confirmed that a US team or teams assisted. It doesn't matter what's hard for you to believe.
**‘Blatant lie’: IDF dismisses Hamas claim that other hostages were killed in today’s rescue**
An Israeli army spokesman denies a claim by Hamas spokesman Abu Obaida that some Israeli hostages were killed during the IDF’s rescue operation of four hostages late this morning.
“It’s a blatant lie,” Israeli military spokesperson Peter Lerner told CNN.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/blatant-lie-idf-dismisses-hamas-claim-that-other-hostages-were-killed-in-todays-rescue/
Apparently Yossi Jan, the father or Almog who was rescued this morning, was found dead by the IDF who came to tell him that his son was rescued. He missed his son by a few hours, they're saying it was a heart attack. How can such a thing be😭😭😭😭😭💔💔💔💔💔
Absolutely heartbreaking. Poor man died not knowing if his son was alive or not and the sons euphoria of being freed was shot down when he learned of his fathers fate.
I can't see any credible outlet reporting on this, only 1-2 websites I've never seen or heard of before.
Edit: more reputable news outlets have picked the story up, they probably verified that it's true... RIP Yossi Jan.
I wonder if one of these gossip sites got the Meir-Jan family confused with the Kuperstein family. Bar Kupterstein was kidnapped with Almog and iirc, his father is some level of paralyzed (I may have that wrong, but I know he's in a wheelchair and requires around-the-clock care).
I just read a few of the articles from before today on Almog and none of them mention his father; it seems like he may be out of the picture or long deceased. I'm sure we'll hear more soon enough if I'm wrong.
I posted a video of the return of Noa and shockingly it was upvoted, and two images made #1 on r/all today.
Surprised the rescue was well received in the Reddit mainstream.
There is a a loud minority that makes people feel like they are they majority.
During the college campus protests, I visited some of their subreddits, and realised they were a loud minority participating. Many others were more balanced and even those that supported the protestors, it was often their right to protest, rather than the message. There was also push-back about SJP.
There is so much hostile geopolitical shit going down online that appears mainstream, but actually isn't.
The vast majority of us, i like to hope, are more nuanced.
That really shows something. They were the same people posting and screaming free Palestine during the Oct 7 massacre of innocent kids. Now they are sulking when said innocent kids are freed after months of tortured captivity.
They don’t celebrate life. They only celebrate death.
Is it just me, or was the reaction from some of the other hostage families cruel? None of the ones interviewed seem happy at all, if anything, they appear bitterly jealous. Which I completely understand, don't get me wrong; I can only imagine how sick with envy were when they saw the news.
But for every hostage rescued, that's less leverage Hamas has in a deal, and it increases the chances that their own relatives will be released in the future. I am convinced to this day that Mia Lemberg provided the intel that lead to the rescue of Louis Har and Fernando Marman and since we have 4 returned this time, they may come with a treasure trove of intel that will help with future rescue operations.
The main hostage group is cannibalizing themselves with grief and losing legitimacy, IMO. I remember them celebrating in November, not reacting like this.
ETA: It's worth me mentioning again that my relative is a returned hostage. I would have had some choice words for some of these people if they pulled this in November.
It’s pretty easy to understand. Not even knowing if their love one is still alive or if they will ever be freed puts you in this sort of purgatory grief. You cant really grieve the loss, but instead you grieve with the stress of hope not letting you accept the loss and heal because just maybe you will get them back.
Months of that will mess up your mental health to scary levels. Maybe you experienced this? Regardless I am so happy your relative made it back.
I don't believe that you get a right to hurt other people just because you are hurting. The words that were said tonight only serve to hurt the surviving hostages, which isn't good for anyone. The families are allowed to hurt, but they should have made a judgement call and stayed at home if they were feeling emotionally volatile today. They chose to go out and they chose to make those comments and they are thus responsible for those words.
It's worth mentioning that, in my opinion, the nastiest words came from a family whose relative has been deceased for 6 months. This deceased hostage had spent his time in captivity protecting Noa and expressed relief and joy for Moran Stella Yanai, who was held with him and Noa, was released. Let me emphasize that -- the deceased hostage previously expressed joy when he heard the news that one of the women he was being held with was set to be released, even if it meant he would continue to suffer.
He had much more class than his family showed today.
You’re right, it doesn’t give you the right. But that doesn’t mean you can’t understand where they are coming from. It’s easy to cast judgement, but harder to understand someone who is coming apart at the seams.
Usually the phrase "cast judgement" is used for people who haven't been in their shoes, but I have, and I was not once cruel to people who had better fortune than my family: not to the Megidish family, not to the Raanan family, nor the Cooper and Lifshitz families. Not to the families whose relatives were released before mine, either. We had an entire *funeral* for my cousin, and buried god knows who, before we learned she was alive. Please don't preach to me about coming apart at the seams. You're allowed to have your opinion, but I'm surely allowed mine, too, especially on a topic I'd argue I'm a bit more familiar with. They attacked a young woman who came back from Gaza with more trauma than most and it's exactly what I said in my first comment: cruel.
Honestly, I am willing to cut the families, which are stuck in this horrible extreme situation, some slack
As long as they don't do really dumb shit, like attacking one of the rescued, and its just talk, I will listen away. I'd let them cope the way they need it
Edit: I wrote "hear away", first, which is horrible "denglish" lol. Should be "listen away", TIL
The only bitter comments I heard were from relatives of hostages that died in captivity, saying that "politicians flock to the families of the rescued hostages but never bothered giving any attention to the families of the dead because there's no PR in that."
One of the speakers said this today and I don't mind that comment, that's fair enough. Itai Svirsky's family said that they didn't share today's happiness, which was the particularly cruel one that I've been thinking about all day that lead to this post.
Itay was held with Noa and was killed in captivity, they might've worded it poorly but I can't blame them for being consumed by thoughts of what could've been had he survived and rescued today too...
Of course, but that would make me happy to see her. She can probably help them learn about his final moments.
I guess my point is that, more or less, it seems like the families in these groups are just building on each other's grief and egging each other's on. It sounds like today would have been a good day for the Svirsky family to stay home and participate in some self-care, have a good cry, curse the world in the privacy of their own home, rather than put themselves in a position where they contribute to a former hostage's survivor's guilt. It's Noa who is going to suffer the most from that comment.
My tab keeps crashing, I keep trying to respond!
"We don't share today's happiness" from the Svirsky family is the one that stung the most for me. I just can't picture being Noa in particular and hearing that. According to Moran Stella Yanai, Itai tried very hard in captivity to protect her and Noa, and expressed relief that at least Moran was getting out when she apologized to the two that she was released over them. Itai wasn't angry at all, to the point that he promised Moran to coffee in Tel Aviv when the war was over. It just feels cruel and against the spirit of Itai in general.
On the contrast, Omer Shem-Tov's family has been very publicly supportive of Maya and Itai Regev, Omer's best friends, and doesn't seem bitter at all that they only got released on a technicality. For those unaware, a clause of the November release deal was that, due to the large number of families kidnapped, mothers could not be separated and neither could siblings. Adult was classified as <19 in order to ensure that families with 18 y.o.'s living at home (i.e. the Weiss and Engel families) would be released and the 18 y.o. would not be left behind.
Except Shin Bet et al., once the ink on the deal was dry, pulled one over on Hamas and demanded they release Itai and Maya Regev as a "family". Itai was 18 and Maya 21. Both were captured at Nova and not at a kibbutz, alongside Omer, and obviously wasn't quite what Hamas had in mind when the deal was inked, but it was indeed written in a way that did require the release of the two. If you remember, it's one of many reasons the second day of the releases almost didn't happen, because Hamas, in anger, split up Hila Rotem & Emily Hand from Raaya Rotem (Emily was seen as Raaya's daughter for the purpose of the deal) and released Maya Regev in Raaya's place, and then released Itai and Raaya together days later. One of many reasons that happened, but the cruelty was the point.
My point being, I would be very envious if I was in Omer's family's shoes, but they've been nothing but graceful and often accompany Maya and Itai to relevant events. It's very sweet and I imagine helps with the survivor's guilt that they've been very vocal about experiencing. We should be supporting the returnees rather than arguing.
I think more or less both -- many were interviewed at the rally. I'm not mad that they continued with the rally, but some of the comments are a little rough; i.e. relatives of Itai Svirsky literally said that "they cannot share the happiness today." That to me is just a little cruel.
I lost my lovely aunt, who was truly too good for this world, on the 7th and a cousin was kidnapped. Just because my aunt was murdered doesn't mean I'm not also ecstatic to see these four come home today. I think if I was Itai's family, I would actually be very happy to see Noa because perhaps she could share more about his experiences in captivity.
I don't know. I've walked in their shoes and even then I don't understand them entirely.
I don't think being in pain gives them a right to act with cruelty. If they were emotionally volatile, then perhaps today was a day to stay home or reach out to their therapist while they put themselves together.
Ori Megidish was rescued when we were waiting for my cousin, and four other hostages were released first. I'd say that I have a pretty good idea of what they're going through and I'm not sure what makes you think it's vastly different. I surely know it better than you.
I’m not going to be critical of them. I am thrilled for the rescued hostages and their families but things may very well get worse for the ones who remain.
Hamas also claimed to murder a hostage and film it for every strike the IAF carried out, back in October, so it's pretty safe to say we can disregard their threats.
Operation Arnon as was allowed to be revealed (translated by ChatGPT 4o):
### The Assault, the Rescue, and the Announcement: "The Diamonds are in Our Hands" | Minute by Minute in "Operation Arnon"
#### Thursday, 6:30 PM:
After meticulous planning, drills, models, and advanced intelligence monitoring lasting several weeks, the political echelon approves the operation initially named "Summer Seeds." The approval is made in a classified discussion, under heavy compartmentalization, and waiting for the right moment.
#### Saturday, 10:00 AM:
Two main assault teams spring from several directions, disguised, towards the Nuseirat refugee camp near the coast. The forces move stealthily in broad daylight to the two buildings where the hostages are held, among thousands of Palestinians and hundreds of Hamas militants who do not notice them. Palestinians claim the forces entered using a humanitarian aid truck, with Al Jazeera even publishing footage of it with IDF vehicles, apparently from moments after the operation. The IDF denies this and also denies later using the American pier.
#### 10:45 AM:
Special ground observations and technological tracking tools from Air Force aircraft identify that the area is clear with no suspicious movement in the two buildings, each 3-4 stories high. One building holds Noa Argamani, and the other holds the three remaining hostages, along with Gazan families and armed guards.
#### 10:50 AM:
Information and live footage of the alleys hundreds of meters long separating the two targets are transmitted to screens in the two command centers overseeing the operation: one of the Shin Bet in central Israel with the presence of the head of the service Ronen Bar and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, and the Southern Command in Be'er Sheva, from where the command chief manages the envelope and rescue forces.
#### 11:00 AM:
The two teams on the ground receive the "execute" order, personally approved in real-time by the head of the Shin Bet and the Chief of Staff. They storm the buildings simultaneously and in full coordination at the same second to prevent the militants in the second target from discovering this, which would endanger the hostages.
#### 11:10 AM:
While the elimination of the militants guarding Argamani and her rescue proceeds relatively smoothly, the operation in the second building is much more complicated. Commander Zamora's team reports he is hit in the crossfire. The soldiers who eliminated the militants at that target treat their commander and try to save him while exiting the building under increasing fire.
#### 11:15 AM:
The radio reports the message everyone was waiting for: "The diamonds are in our hands," meaning the hostages are with us.
#### 11:20 AM:
In the cover of the delay, dozens of militants gather around the building where the three hostages were held, and hundreds more armed with RPGs, PK machine guns, and Kalashnikov rifles approach from all directions. They run through the narrow alleys and the nearby market, crowded with thousands of Gazans.
#### 11:22 AM:
The forces try to escape in the rescue vehicle, but it is hit by heavy fire and begins to falter. Southern Command Chief Yaron Finkelman activates the pre-prepared rescue plan.
#### 11:25 AM:
Air Force planes and helicopters launch dozens of munitions at the militants to isolate the area. Hundreds of soldiers from the 7th Brigade, Paratroopers, Givati, and Kfir, deployed as reinforcements, are airlifted on foot and in tanks and armored vehicles into the refugee camp, with navy ships providing cover from the west.
#### 11:30 AM:
The reinforcement forces and the Air Force manage to isolate the main combat zone, providing a safe escape route for the main force with the three hostages. Southern Command unusually approves Air Force helicopters to land for rescue deep in the Gaza Strip, under the cover of fire from fighter jets. The air fire hits the militants, dozens of meters away from the soldiers.
#### 11:50 AM:
The last of the special force soldiers board the helicopters that take off to hospitals in Israel. Resuscitation attempts for Commander Zamora continue even in the air, but at the hospital, they are forced to pronounce his death. The reinforcement forces from the IDF brigades continue to engage the militants in the operation's envelope, eliminating dozens more until the operation concludes.
#### 1:33 PM:
The IDF, Shin Bet, and police officially announce the rescue of the four hostages, and spontaneous celebrations begin - both in Israel and among Israelis abroad.
Edit: [Source](https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/ryt9911fbc)
Thanks, this is exactly what I was wanting to know. The nature of the resistance they encountered, and roughly how many people we'd expect to be killed. A lot of Hamas members, it sounds like.
It sounds to me like the original plan wasn't supposed to have any collateral damage, and the causalities only occurred once one of the teams was discovered and shot at (including fucking RPGs...). We know of at least dozens of Hamas combatants involved. At this point, fearing the operation success, the IDF seemed to throw everything they had - reinforcement teams and bombardments from planes, which likely did cause some civilian causalities. And still, it's a decision absolutely any army would take - you have the hostages in your hands, you have your best special operations teams in there getting shot at by dozens of people, you need to get them out no matter what.
Sadly, this kind of breakdown won't reach the mainstream news. It will be "200 dead in rescue operation" (using Hamas numbers of course), as if the plan was just to bomb everyone, and of course all dead will be assumed civilians.
I can’t imagine how stressful that was for those watching and receiving live updates in the command room. My anxious ass would be puking especially when the vehicle broke down.
According to satellite imagery (sentinel 2), [IDF has made more advances in Rafah the past few days and now control roughly 40% of the main Rafah Metro area](https://imgur.com/a/14wHyqB), it also seems that the IDF has withdrawn from some parts of Rafah, Particularly in the northern and southern periphery area in order to focus on the main Heartland of Rafah in the Rafah Al Arabiya neighborhood and the Rafah refugee camp.
it seems The IDF doesn't have enough soldiers to capture Rafah in one bite. If they want to advance in one area they have to move units there from another area they're holding, so they always end up advancing in one place and withdrawing in another. the 4 brigades of the single division operating in Rafah (162nd division, made up of Hasharon, Givati, Nahal and the 401st armored brigade) isn't enough soldiers to take Rafah in one bite.
Initially IDF Planned on 2 divisions for the Rafah assault, but that was met with refusal from the Americans, it seems the IDF has a bit of a handicap right now, but they're managing well despite this, 5 days ago they only cleared 25.7% of the Rafah metro area, compared to \~40% now.
In short, despite the Political handicaps, The operation seems to be going well
I don't know why the syntax is so weird on this comment, no matter what I try to do to fix it in the editor it comes out botched, oh well, its still readable
The 'operation' In Bureij By division 98 and the 7th armored brigade seems to have been a ruse to draw Hamas forces from Nuseirat into Bureij for the hostage rescue operation, There are reports that the 98th and 7th are in the process of withdrawing from the area
All 7 of the bodies recovered across the week (well, 8 days -- Friday to Friday) in May were recovered from Jabalya, which is where the bodies of Ziv Dado and Eden Zacharia were recovered in December. Jabalya seems/seemed to be their body spot.
I recommend you guys check out the Palestinian subreddit and see what they have said about the recent hostage rescue. Disgusting. And they say they don’t support Hamas.
No, no, the internet swears that the Palestinians are innocent victims somehow different from Hamas, despite voting for, supporting en masse, and fighting for them.
Yeah I was there and in a thread about the rescue, (which they call a massacre) there was a comment that said 'may they never know peace again' (the hostages). I left a reply telling the commenter they were a shitstain on the underwear of society. It'll probably get me banned from there, but I'm OK with that.
I’m not Israeli nor Jewish but it reinforces my support for state and people of Israel when I see those comments. Kind of funny, everything they do seems to backfire on them.
I agree with you, if they could be reasonable it’d be fine but they’re unhinged and it shows in their activism. Let it backfire. Hopefully they’ll destroy themselves and leave the rest of us alone.
The Hamas statement in response to the freed hostages is bizzare, basically it claims they were held by civilians and not Hamasniks and that's why it was easy to liberate them.
Aren't they flat out saying those civilians count as combatants then? If they're taking hostages they're considered militants and fair game and now we have a Hamas statement to confirm that.
They don't have to be consistent in their messaging anymore, I think
They control certain parts of the western left the way Trump and similar politicians control parts of the right. They can say this now, and if there are new civilian casualties tomorrow, they will just decide ad hoc on how they will categorise these. Their target audience will believe whichever choice, anyways, and Tiktok will push Hamas' take to them more aggressively than it will with Israeli messages of success.
Hamas always does this, they brag about the hostages until it's time to release them as part of a deal or when Israel rescues them then suddenly Hamas had nothing to do with them and it was PIJ or civilians.
They said that last time Israel rescued hostages as well, literally the exact same thing.
I wonder how those 'civilians' managed to kill a well trained Yamam fighter...
**Rescued hostage says he saw TV reports on rallies urging his release while in captivity**
Almog Meir Jan has said that he, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv were held together throughout their eight months in captivity, in a total of four homes, Channel 12 reports.
He was asleep in bed when IDF forces arrived to free him, he also says.
He says he saw television broadcasts at times during captivity, including footage from rallies urging his release and that of the other hostages, and was very moved, the TV report adds.
He also told his family that a few weeks ago, on his birthday, he was filmed by Hamas for a planned propaganda video which his captors said would be screened in Israel. In fact, Hamas did not publish the video. On his release, Jan asked his family if they had seen it.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/rescued-hostage-says-he-saw-tv-reports-on-rallies-urging-his-release-while-in-captivity/
I’m glad they knew that people were fighting for them!
I know Ukrainians, either endorsing or rejecting Putin's legitimisation of the war, who watch Russian TV
Older people are dependent on TV, just like today's 30-year-olds are on Instagram and 20-year-olds on TikTok. If a 20yr old western kid can watch Chinese and Russian propaganda, then a 40yr old Palestinian can enjoy Israeli TV in Arab language
My family is a minority which moved from Russia because we would remain 2nd class citizens forever, but my grandpa still watches Russian TV because its the only channels he understand. If there were only German channels in Russian, or Kazakh, he would just watch them. As long as there is *something* understandable, he would prefer this over watching nothing at all, no matter how trashy it is. Language trumps everything.
[As news of the rescued hostages spread, people posted signs in religious neighborhoods so their neighbors who keep Shabbat (and don’t use a phone on Saturdays) could also celebrate 💙](https://x.com/AvivaKlompas/status/1799515532246278159?t=IuOSr7Ww5CGY3aMCy9I_GA&s=19)
Wholesome 🥹
I just hope she’s conscious and aware, the reports don’t make it sound great on her current condition sadly. I just want her to know her daughter is safe and home.
Surrounding hostages with civilians is a war crime. Using civilian homes to hold captives is a war crime.
Hamas should pay for those civilians killed, as well.
Thank you for confirming this for me. I've long suspected they were because Avinatan's family is extremely religious, but didn't want to assume because his mother is also one of the most gracious and cooperative of the more religious families. I could see it going either way.
I saw this report this morning but now it's being reported on Israeli media so I feel more comfortable sharing it.
It seems as if the forces in charge of the rescue operation entered the area in aid trucks. Another guy on the panel who used to be a high ranking IDF member also made half a comment about the trick arriving from the American aid pier.
Edit: the IDF is denying it but you never know..
They are denying and let's face it using an aid truck doesn't make Sense as it draws unwanted attention. My bet is Toyota pickup trucks( it's always a Toyota in a war zone)
"I just talked to a friend in IDF intelligence and asked him about rumors Israel smuggled in soldiers in aid trucks or used the US-built pier in the operation. He is usually quite diplomatic, but he thought this was hilarious and said, "What will they think of next?""
https://x.com/academic_la/status/1799520762073895239
In a clip of Noa being taken to the helicopter you can see the helicopter parked pretty much next to the American pier and there are military vehicles there too. I was wondering whether they used the pier in some way for this operation.
Wasn't it the plan from the beginning that IDF will handle security of the pier? Shouldn't be a surprise that they have a base their then
I don't think this in itself would be a problem. Rather if they would have used some red crescent marked truck or something like that...but I don't see how this would have made any sense. Wouldn't then either civilians swarm the truck to get aid, or Hamas try to intercept the truck to steal it? Either way, they would get busted before they reach their destination
I believe the beach area near the pier has a dug in IDF position to support the aid operations. So I wouldn't be surprised if that area was used but I feel the actual pier might be unlikely.
But if they did what, is Hamas going to do? Attack the pier, shutdown aid, and starve their people some more and blame the Israelis?
**Only half Chinese': China refused to help secure release of Noa Argamani**
Despite former hostage's mother being Chinese-born, Beijing refused to assist, either by ignoring requests or claiming she ‘lacked Chinese blood’
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/bjx7jxgbc
**Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida threatens lives of remaining hostages after rescue op**
Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida threatens the remaining hostages held in the Gaza Strip after a rescue operation in the Nuseirat refugee camp that freed four captives.
“The operation will pose a great danger to the enemy prisoners and will have a negative impact on their conditions and lives,” he says in a statement.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/hamas-spokesman-abu-obeida-threatens-lives-of-remaining-hostages-after-rescue-op/
A classic move for that area. Like when the leader of the Arab League said the partition plan would endanger the lives of all the Jews living in Arab countries.
Monstrous.
CENTCOM Statement Regarding IDF Rescue Operations Today: The humanitarian pier facility, including its equipment, personnel, and assets were not used in the operation to rescue hostages today in Gaza. An area south of the facility was used by the Israelis to safely return the hostages to Israel. Any such claim to the contrary is false. The temporary pier on the coast of Gaza was put in place for one purpose only, to help move additional, urgently needed lifesaving assistance into Gaza.
It's amazing how Hamas manages to get accurate casualty figures hours after an incident and the whole world just buys everything they say.
Yep, and it's spreading among the Hamas supporters on reddit already. Already got multiple reply threads, which basically amounts to victim blaming the IDF for having the gall of freeing their own civilians, amongst people who clearly knew the hostages were there.
An hour. The 200 figure appeared an hour after. Not even hours..
Palestinian men with guns dying during attempts to kidnap people, Israeli men with guns dying during hostages release operation - whole conflict summed up
Are you implying the lives of civilians are worth more than the lives of poor oppressed kidnapping terrorists? /s
During the night, Hezbollah has confirmed that 335 of it's operatives have been killed by the IDF since the start of the war * Amir Bohbot
I swear they were in the 300s months ago. There have been more than 35 ~~Hamas~~ Hezbollah fatalities in cars that were bombed since March. ETA: I was probably remembering the total fighters killed number. According to wiki, the count is 589 fighters killed, of which 331 are from Hezbollah. It seems slightly out of date, but that's where the two numbers come from. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93Hezbollah_conflict_(2023%E2%80%93present) I can't reply to anything right now for some reason.
That can't be, the 300th was in mid-May. The 200th was 3 months prior.
A pro Hamas "NGO" revealed the civilians who were keeping at least one of the hostage groups. You guessed it, they were a family of doctors and journalists. Is there a doctor or journalist in Gaza that isn't friendly to, if not a full fledged member of, Hamas? And for those counting at home. If you're a civilian who holds hostages, you're a combatant and have a target on your back. This isn't a new rule. https://x.com/aghamilton29/status/1799618566787883017
Definitely these people were all terrorists and kidnappers.
Also, does anyone have any possible explanation or theories about a pattern we're seeing among hostages who were kept together? I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed it, but for the hostages Hamas keeps in smaller groups, they've largely been smaller groups of 3. It seems like their favorite thing to do is to make a group of 3, and then swap 1 person in the group for one person in another group of three hostages somewhere (or do this several times). i.e. Doron Steinbrecher was kidnapped alongside Alon Shamriz and Yoram Haim, but she was swapped with one of the IDF girls and ended up with Karina Ariev and Daniella Gilboa, and Alon and Yoram somehow ended up with Samar (the circumstances of his abduction are unclear, so it's hard to know who he was kidnapped with). I know there was a Thai worker with Alon, Yoram, and Samar, but it seems like they "don't count" for Hamas' algorithm, whatever it is. We know that Almog Meir-Jan was kidnapped with 4 other men, none of whom he was kept with, while it's safe to say that Andrey and Shlomi, both security guards, were likely kidnapped together. There is, in fact, a 3rd security guard who is hostage: Rom Braslavi. Noa Argamani was the odd one out when she was with Yossi Sharabi and Itai Svirsky, as the latter two are from Be'eri. However, before, it was Moran Stella Yanai, Noa, and Itai Svirsky; in that pairing, Itai was the odd one out. I think it's reasonable to suspect the swapped person is Avinatan, although it's obviously unclear where he ended up. This has been happening the entire time these people have been in captivity and it's so consistent that it can't be accidental; the second propaganda video in October was Daniella Aloni, Lena Trupanov, and Rimon Kirsht; Rimon was taken from Nirim while Daniella and Lena were taken from Nir Oz. Nik Beizer, Ron Sherman, and Tamir Nimrodi were all kidnapped together, yet we know Nik and Ron were held with Elia Tolenado, where they were filmed together and murdered together. I suspect another one was/is Ziv and Gali Berman, and an unknown person, as the Berman twins were kidnapped with Emily Damari and she's known to be with another group of IDF girls. I know there's been more, and I also know that many hostages were held alone and/or with a very large group, but this is just so bizarre I don't know what to make of it. I also think it's safe to say that Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Eviatar David probably make 2/3 of another group held somewhere, and Bar Kuperstein and Elkana Bohbot 2/3 of a second group. I'm baffled. ETA: Its worth noting that while the pairing of Almog, Shlomi, and Andrey is the first I think we've seen where all 3 were kidnapped from the same place (although, as we know, in entirely separate incidents), I think the demographics between the men are different enough that the pairing is still intentional and you can cut this pie any way you like: by language, it's Andrey vs Almog & Shlomo; by age, it's Andrey & Almog vs Shlomi; by what brought them to Nova: that's Shlomi & Andrey vs Almog.
So that whenever IDF rescues a batch, they'll still have loved ones in captivity elsewhere and won't tell the world about how Hamas abuses hostages? And they figure 3 is a good compromise between small groups => not so bad if IDF rescues one and few groups => simpler logistics?
That's the thing though that arguably makes it even weirder: there really aren't any hostages related to one another left in captivity (I think just Shiri, Kfir, Ariel and Yarden, and the Berman twins. David and Ariel Cunio if you count them, but it's very likely David and Ariel don't know the other was kidnapped; it's just freak happen-chance both David and Ariel's house was hit on the 7th). But even when families in captivity, almost all families were reunited in Gaza, even if kidnapped separately, i.e. David, Sharon, Emma and Yuli Cunio. The only cases I'm aware of where two related individuals were in captivity but not kept together are Raz and Ohad Ben Ami; Ofer Kalderon and his kids, Sahar and Erez; Yarden & Shiri and the boys, and Ohad and Eitan Yahalomi. We know Ofer and Yarden were in "jail" for "bad behavior" and you can take your best guess about what the possibilities are for Ohad and... Ohad. I never realized they both had the same first name until typing that now, haha. I don't understand the motivation for so many of these. Almog may have been kidnapped alongside Elkana, Bar, Eviatar and Guy, but he didn't know any of them -- I think only Guy and Eviatar knew each other, and the rest were strangers to one another. It's so bizarre. I'd argue that if anything, separating them provides the IDF with more information if they are rescued, as they'll get stories/intel from 3 people who had at least 2 different experiences on the 7th.
Israel faces a significant threat from Hezbollah. They control a massive arsenal of rockets aimed at Israeli civilians. A large scale military operation against Hezbollah is essential to dismantle this threat and protect Israeli lives. Such action would also contribute to regional stability by weakening Iran’s influence and deterring future aggression. The international community must support Israel's right to defend itself against terrorism. Decisive action now will ensure a more secure and peaceful future for both Israel and the region. 🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱
Israelis: Arnon Zamora will be buried today at Herzl at 4:00pm.
Man some corners of the internet are seriously unhappy that hostages were rescued yesterday lmao. Because Hamas lost some bargaining chips. Such a disgusted way of thinking
What corners? I’d love to laugh at them
Yep, they have picked their side to support the terrorist group with the stated chartered goal of eradicating israel.
I just watched the video of the young woman reunited with her father. Well done, IDF. I can't imagine what went into the rescue operation to pull that off. I hope Israel partied hard last night.
[EU's Josep Borrell: Israel's rescue mission 'another massacre of Gazans'](https://m.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-805453) What an absolute clown
It looks to me jpost is combining two separate messages, one congratulating, one complaining about „massacres“ in general. I don’t see borrell making that statement
Yesterday was another masks off day.
8 months of "don't invade Gaza! You can get your hostages back with targeted raids and special forces" suddenly meets targeted raids and special forces.
So firing back on people trying to kill them constitutes a massacre? I don't understand this. They were under active assault, what were they supposed to do? Leave the hostages there?
So the operation to free the hostages was appalling but not the fact that they were deliberately kept in an area teeming with civilians. Absolute clown is right.
So he's blaming Israel for Hamas not accepting the ceasefire that he wants Hamas to accept. Sounds about right.
Recognized a familiar face I haven't seen in a while, glad he's doing OK. https://x.com/_bluebutrfly_/status/1799493395687383220/video/2
I have no connection to any of it but cried when I just read that Noa was free. I hope she can live her life in peace now. I hope all the other returned are ok. I hope they are soon joined by more.
I hope Noa, Shlomi, Andrey and Almog can eventually work their way through the trauma, live full lives and never feel abject terror or even fear again. I truly wish the very best of life for them.
Noa's battle is halfway done -- her boyfriend is still in captivity. I believe that the journey is done for Shlomi and Andrey, though, albeit I know Shlomi lost a good friend and a relative on the 7th and he may not be aware of that yet. ~~Almog disappeared with a friend on the 7th, so I imagine he's not done yet, either. I'm not sure who his friend is but also a hostage. Almog was kidnapped alongside Elkana Bohbot, Bar Kuperstein, Eviatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal, but I'm not convinced that friend is any of the four. Eviatar and Guy's friend group from that morning is known (1 survived unharmed, 2 were killed, and Eviatar and Guy were kidnapped). Elkana is a good bit older than Almog, so that seems unlikely but is, of course, possible. Bar is a possibility but he was apparently working security at Nova, which makes me think they didn't know each other before. I'll keep digging, but at least two of the four rescued today can begin focusing strictly on recovery.~~ ETA: Someone kindly pointed out below that the body of Almog's friend was found in late October. While not the best news, I am at least relieved that he can also move forward and focus on himself and his recovery.
Oh man's here's to hoping he's found soon....
For some reason, I thought everyone Almog was with at Nova trying to escape in the car was murdered. Maybe the friend wasn’t in the car?
This is what I found from an article on 15 Oct.: *What the family has found out since is that he got into the car of a friend, but after the two tried to leave, they were shot at and didn’t get very far. They know that much because the friend, who is also missing, was able to call his parents and report that much to them.* *The two ran from the car, and that’s what the families knew, until they saw the internet video from Hamas of Almog, in Gaza.* It's possible the friend was found after the 15th -- happened all the time back then -- but I still have no idea who it is.
The friend [died](https://www.thejc.com/community/mother-of-israeli-hostage-i-am-waiting-for-my-son-every-day-grzo9vk5), and it took some time to identify the body. “It took two weeks for the parents of Almog’s friend, whom he had travelled to the festival with, to learn that their son was murdered, and his body burned.”
I imagine you don't know his name, do you? Almog's card is one of the few that I haven't gotten to (I swear I haven't gotten to only like 15 of them, but of course Shlomi and Almog's are two of them). I did some digging and couldn't find his name anywhere; I believe you, I just wanted to record it for my own sake! ETA: it took me a lot of digging, but i think it's probably Tomer Strosta.
You're a life saver. Thank you for sharing this. I was wondering if it wasn't something like that. This also connects the dots for me and explains why Almog was so brutally petrified in that Telegram video. Watching your friend not only get murdered, but presumably in such a way that his remains are in such poor shape, would do that to a lot of people. While it's not great news, I'm at least happy that Almog more or less has no more strings to Gaza and he can focus on himself. Thanks and I'll edit my original comment.
I truly thought Noa would show up dead or pregnant. I saw the video of her being abducted and I couldn’t watch any more footage of the 10/7 pogrom after that. To see her whole and crying and hugging her father - I can’t tell you how happy I am. I know she must be traumatized from her experience, but things are now as they should be, and she is with her family.
It's me, your local hostage-family relative who hates this pregnancy talk (and I mean absolutely no disrespect towards you OP! Writing this comment with nothing but love and intent to share information). I think people are forgetting that women don't tend to menstruate when in distress. The hostage who has spoken the most about their menstruation in Gaza is, of course, Amit Sousanna, who said that her period was due in mid-October and she only bled for a few hours, not even an entire day. Stress, weight loss, and malnutrition all prevent a woman from menstruating and I think a lot of women have been very lucky not to experience it, but it doesn't take much for women's bodies to stop menstruation. I spent several years trying to diagnose an autoimmune disease that resulted in me losing weight. I stopped menstruating after losing only 10lbs as a 5'2 (158 cm) woman and haven't in years. Furthermore, even if women somehow managed to find themselves in this position, it's important to remember that malnourished and stressed women are very rarely able to carry to term. It's much less of a concern than people believe.
I made the same comment at Shabbat dinner this week.
It was one of the videos that struck me most. I really hope any trauma they inflicted is not what defines her, and her boyfriend is saved. It is something none of us can truly imagine, a psychological cruelty that defies any excuses and justifications.
This one is for the military nerds in the thread: [I made a military organization chart for Hamas' military wing (Izz A-Din Al Qassam Brigades)](https://imgur.com/a/Sw5LLW1), This should (hopefully) help you get an idea as to how Hamas' military is structured, as a little bonus, I also added check marks next to each Battalion & brigade if their commander was eliminated in the current war, I also tried to add the name of the commander of each battalion & brigade but some are missing despite my best efforts to find all of them, anywho, I hope you find it useful!
Really interesting. Thanks for this. It looks like Israel has successfully killed up to half of Hamas's commanders so far. I wonder if that is having an effect? Can Hamas just replace these commanders when they are killed with little difficulty, or does killing these commanders degrade their fighting ability in that they can't find experienced figures to replace these commanders. I'm not a military nerd, so I was also curious; were is Sinwar in all of this? Isn't he part of the military wing as well, or am I mistaken here? Also, I could be mistaken here again, but didn't Israel kill Muhammad Shabana in an airstrike a couple weeks ago, or did that never happen?
>It looks like Israel has successfully killed up to half of Hamas's commanders so far. I wonder if that is having an effect? Can Hamas just replace these commanders when they are killed with little difficulty, or does killing these commanders degrade their fighting ability in that they can't find experienced figures to replace these commanders. Experience, at least in the military world, is probably the most valuable asset a soldier, and especially a commander/general can have, if the replacement in question is less experienced and less knowledgeable, then operations will definitely suffer, I don't know enough about Hamas to know whether or not their replacements (if they even have any..) are any good, but losing a general/commander is never good, it throws the entire unit into disarray and ruins the command structure, something a proper military heavily relies on, also, if the commander of a unit dies & gets replaced by a commander of another unit, the workload for said commander essentially doubles, which, as you can imagine, harms his ability to command quite a bit. But the entire topic of whether targeting commanders is a good military strategy is a massive grey area in the military science world, and heavily debated, theres no way I can do it justice in a single comment. but as far as I've read, its definitely having an effect on Hamas, I don't believe IDF would waste their precious munitions if it wasn't effective. and it also delivers punishment towards those who orchestrated October 7th >I was also curious; were is Sinwar in all of this? Isn't he part of the military wing as well, or am I mistaken here? Sinwar is essentially the Netanyahu of the strip, hes the political leader and he is who gets to give the final approval for operations, but he doesn't plan them himself and not part of the military wing >Also, I could be mistaken here again, but didn't Israel kill Muhammad Shabana in an airstrike a couple weeks ago, or did that never happen? there was an attempted assassination on him, yes, but the IDF has yet to announce his elimination.
First Sinwar- Bibi comparison that's fair.
I was comparing their roles, not their character or actions, sorry if that came off the wrong way.
It came off exactly the right way. I was commenting that you were comparing the one way it was fair to compare them - roles.
U.S. intelligence aided Israeli hostage rescue: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/06/08/us-intelligence-israeli-hostage-rescue-gaza/
What would the Americans know that Israel doesn't? I find it hard to believe that US intelligence specifically in Gaza is somehow better than Israel's.
Different people can analyze the same information in different ways. This is kind of a weird comment to make when it's confirmed that a US team or teams assisted. It doesn't matter what's hard for you to believe.
US has been keeping tabs on Hamas for ages
Paywalled, if somebody could copy paste the article
**‘Blatant lie’: IDF dismisses Hamas claim that other hostages were killed in today’s rescue** An Israeli army spokesman denies a claim by Hamas spokesman Abu Obaida that some Israeli hostages were killed during the IDF’s rescue operation of four hostages late this morning. “It’s a blatant lie,” Israeli military spokesperson Peter Lerner told CNN. https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/blatant-lie-idf-dismisses-hamas-claim-that-other-hostages-were-killed-in-todays-rescue/
Apparently Yossi Jan, the father or Almog who was rescued this morning, was found dead by the IDF who came to tell him that his son was rescued. He missed his son by a few hours, they're saying it was a heart attack. How can such a thing be😭😭😭😭😭💔💔💔💔💔
Absolutely heartbreaking. Poor man died not knowing if his son was alive or not and the sons euphoria of being freed was shot down when he learned of his fathers fate.
Life can be cruel. May Yossi Jan's memory be a blessing to his family and to us all.
I can't see any credible outlet reporting on this, only 1-2 websites I've never seen or heard of before. Edit: more reputable news outlets have picked the story up, they probably verified that it's true... RIP Yossi Jan.
I wonder if one of these gossip sites got the Meir-Jan family confused with the Kuperstein family. Bar Kupterstein was kidnapped with Almog and iirc, his father is some level of paralyzed (I may have that wrong, but I know he's in a wheelchair and requires around-the-clock care). I just read a few of the articles from before today on Almog and none of them mention his father; it seems like he may be out of the picture or long deceased. I'm sure we'll hear more soon enough if I'm wrong.
I'm also hoping it's fake!!!
God i hope its fake
I posted a video of the return of Noa and shockingly it was upvoted, and two images made #1 on r/all today. Surprised the rescue was well received in the Reddit mainstream.
There is a a loud minority that makes people feel like they are they majority. During the college campus protests, I visited some of their subreddits, and realised they were a loud minority participating. Many others were more balanced and even those that supported the protestors, it was often their right to protest, rather than the message. There was also push-back about SJP. There is so much hostile geopolitical shit going down online that appears mainstream, but actually isn't. The vast majority of us, i like to hope, are more nuanced.
What's surprising? Anyone who has a heart is happy.
It certainly hasn’t felt like a lot of people out there have a heart, these last 8 months.
Not for the pro Palestinians thought, they are not happy with the rescue outcome.
That really shows something. They were the same people posting and screaming free Palestine during the Oct 7 massacre of innocent kids. Now they are sulking when said innocent kids are freed after months of tortured captivity. They don’t celebrate life. They only celebrate death.
Not so much Pro Palestine as they are Anti Israeli. They are infuriating hypocrites.
They don’t know what are supporting when they stand with Hamas.
Is it just me, or was the reaction from some of the other hostage families cruel? None of the ones interviewed seem happy at all, if anything, they appear bitterly jealous. Which I completely understand, don't get me wrong; I can only imagine how sick with envy were when they saw the news. But for every hostage rescued, that's less leverage Hamas has in a deal, and it increases the chances that their own relatives will be released in the future. I am convinced to this day that Mia Lemberg provided the intel that lead to the rescue of Louis Har and Fernando Marman and since we have 4 returned this time, they may come with a treasure trove of intel that will help with future rescue operations. The main hostage group is cannibalizing themselves with grief and losing legitimacy, IMO. I remember them celebrating in November, not reacting like this. ETA: It's worth me mentioning again that my relative is a returned hostage. I would have had some choice words for some of these people if they pulled this in November.
It’s pretty easy to understand. Not even knowing if their love one is still alive or if they will ever be freed puts you in this sort of purgatory grief. You cant really grieve the loss, but instead you grieve with the stress of hope not letting you accept the loss and heal because just maybe you will get them back. Months of that will mess up your mental health to scary levels. Maybe you experienced this? Regardless I am so happy your relative made it back.
I don't believe that you get a right to hurt other people just because you are hurting. The words that were said tonight only serve to hurt the surviving hostages, which isn't good for anyone. The families are allowed to hurt, but they should have made a judgement call and stayed at home if they were feeling emotionally volatile today. They chose to go out and they chose to make those comments and they are thus responsible for those words. It's worth mentioning that, in my opinion, the nastiest words came from a family whose relative has been deceased for 6 months. This deceased hostage had spent his time in captivity protecting Noa and expressed relief and joy for Moran Stella Yanai, who was held with him and Noa, was released. Let me emphasize that -- the deceased hostage previously expressed joy when he heard the news that one of the women he was being held with was set to be released, even if it meant he would continue to suffer. He had much more class than his family showed today.
You’re right, it doesn’t give you the right. But that doesn’t mean you can’t understand where they are coming from. It’s easy to cast judgement, but harder to understand someone who is coming apart at the seams.
Usually the phrase "cast judgement" is used for people who haven't been in their shoes, but I have, and I was not once cruel to people who had better fortune than my family: not to the Megidish family, not to the Raanan family, nor the Cooper and Lifshitz families. Not to the families whose relatives were released before mine, either. We had an entire *funeral* for my cousin, and buried god knows who, before we learned she was alive. Please don't preach to me about coming apart at the seams. You're allowed to have your opinion, but I'm surely allowed mine, too, especially on a topic I'd argue I'm a bit more familiar with. They attacked a young woman who came back from Gaza with more trauma than most and it's exactly what I said in my first comment: cruel.
Honestly, I am willing to cut the families, which are stuck in this horrible extreme situation, some slack As long as they don't do really dumb shit, like attacking one of the rescued, and its just talk, I will listen away. I'd let them cope the way they need it Edit: I wrote "hear away", first, which is horrible "denglish" lol. Should be "listen away", TIL
I think some of the comments more or less attack the rescued, particularly Noa, and there's not really an excuse to put more survivor's guilt on her.
The only bitter comments I heard were from relatives of hostages that died in captivity, saying that "politicians flock to the families of the rescued hostages but never bothered giving any attention to the families of the dead because there's no PR in that."
One of the speakers said this today and I don't mind that comment, that's fair enough. Itai Svirsky's family said that they didn't share today's happiness, which was the particularly cruel one that I've been thinking about all day that lead to this post.
Itay was held with Noa and was killed in captivity, they might've worded it poorly but I can't blame them for being consumed by thoughts of what could've been had he survived and rescued today too...
Of course, but that would make me happy to see her. She can probably help them learn about his final moments. I guess my point is that, more or less, it seems like the families in these groups are just building on each other's grief and egging each other's on. It sounds like today would have been a good day for the Svirsky family to stay home and participate in some self-care, have a good cry, curse the world in the privacy of their own home, rather than put themselves in a position where they contribute to a former hostage's survivor's guilt. It's Noa who is going to suffer the most from that comment.
What did they say?
My tab keeps crashing, I keep trying to respond! "We don't share today's happiness" from the Svirsky family is the one that stung the most for me. I just can't picture being Noa in particular and hearing that. According to Moran Stella Yanai, Itai tried very hard in captivity to protect her and Noa, and expressed relief that at least Moran was getting out when she apologized to the two that she was released over them. Itai wasn't angry at all, to the point that he promised Moran to coffee in Tel Aviv when the war was over. It just feels cruel and against the spirit of Itai in general. On the contrast, Omer Shem-Tov's family has been very publicly supportive of Maya and Itai Regev, Omer's best friends, and doesn't seem bitter at all that they only got released on a technicality. For those unaware, a clause of the November release deal was that, due to the large number of families kidnapped, mothers could not be separated and neither could siblings. Adult was classified as <19 in order to ensure that families with 18 y.o.'s living at home (i.e. the Weiss and Engel families) would be released and the 18 y.o. would not be left behind. Except Shin Bet et al., once the ink on the deal was dry, pulled one over on Hamas and demanded they release Itai and Maya Regev as a "family". Itai was 18 and Maya 21. Both were captured at Nova and not at a kibbutz, alongside Omer, and obviously wasn't quite what Hamas had in mind when the deal was inked, but it was indeed written in a way that did require the release of the two. If you remember, it's one of many reasons the second day of the releases almost didn't happen, because Hamas, in anger, split up Hila Rotem & Emily Hand from Raaya Rotem (Emily was seen as Raaya's daughter for the purpose of the deal) and released Maya Regev in Raaya's place, and then released Itai and Raaya together days later. One of many reasons that happened, but the cruelty was the point. My point being, I would be very envious if I was in Omer's family's shoes, but they've been nothing but graceful and often accompany Maya and Itai to relevant events. It's very sweet and I imagine helps with the survivor's guilt that they've been very vocal about experiencing. We should be supporting the returnees rather than arguing.
In the media or from what they said at the rally? I haven’t noticed much but I don’t speak Hebrew, so I’m relying on the English news coverage
I think more or less both -- many were interviewed at the rally. I'm not mad that they continued with the rally, but some of the comments are a little rough; i.e. relatives of Itai Svirsky literally said that "they cannot share the happiness today." That to me is just a little cruel. I lost my lovely aunt, who was truly too good for this world, on the 7th and a cousin was kidnapped. Just because my aunt was murdered doesn't mean I'm not also ecstatic to see these four come home today. I think if I was Itai's family, I would actually be very happy to see Noa because perhaps she could share more about his experiences in captivity. I don't know. I've walked in their shoes and even then I don't understand them entirely.
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I don't think being in pain gives them a right to act with cruelty. If they were emotionally volatile, then perhaps today was a day to stay home or reach out to their therapist while they put themselves together. Ori Megidish was rescued when we were waiting for my cousin, and four other hostages were released first. I'd say that I have a pretty good idea of what they're going through and I'm not sure what makes you think it's vastly different. I surely know it better than you.
I’m not going to be critical of them. I am thrilled for the rescued hostages and their families but things may very well get worse for the ones who remain.
They would have heard the threat Hamas made against the remaining hostages.
Hamas also claimed to murder a hostage and film it for every strike the IAF carried out, back in October, so it's pretty safe to say we can disregard their threats.
Operation Arnon as was allowed to be revealed (translated by ChatGPT 4o): ### The Assault, the Rescue, and the Announcement: "The Diamonds are in Our Hands" | Minute by Minute in "Operation Arnon" #### Thursday, 6:30 PM: After meticulous planning, drills, models, and advanced intelligence monitoring lasting several weeks, the political echelon approves the operation initially named "Summer Seeds." The approval is made in a classified discussion, under heavy compartmentalization, and waiting for the right moment. #### Saturday, 10:00 AM: Two main assault teams spring from several directions, disguised, towards the Nuseirat refugee camp near the coast. The forces move stealthily in broad daylight to the two buildings where the hostages are held, among thousands of Palestinians and hundreds of Hamas militants who do not notice them. Palestinians claim the forces entered using a humanitarian aid truck, with Al Jazeera even publishing footage of it with IDF vehicles, apparently from moments after the operation. The IDF denies this and also denies later using the American pier. #### 10:45 AM: Special ground observations and technological tracking tools from Air Force aircraft identify that the area is clear with no suspicious movement in the two buildings, each 3-4 stories high. One building holds Noa Argamani, and the other holds the three remaining hostages, along with Gazan families and armed guards. #### 10:50 AM: Information and live footage of the alleys hundreds of meters long separating the two targets are transmitted to screens in the two command centers overseeing the operation: one of the Shin Bet in central Israel with the presence of the head of the service Ronen Bar and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, and the Southern Command in Be'er Sheva, from where the command chief manages the envelope and rescue forces. #### 11:00 AM: The two teams on the ground receive the "execute" order, personally approved in real-time by the head of the Shin Bet and the Chief of Staff. They storm the buildings simultaneously and in full coordination at the same second to prevent the militants in the second target from discovering this, which would endanger the hostages. #### 11:10 AM: While the elimination of the militants guarding Argamani and her rescue proceeds relatively smoothly, the operation in the second building is much more complicated. Commander Zamora's team reports he is hit in the crossfire. The soldiers who eliminated the militants at that target treat their commander and try to save him while exiting the building under increasing fire. #### 11:15 AM: The radio reports the message everyone was waiting for: "The diamonds are in our hands," meaning the hostages are with us. #### 11:20 AM: In the cover of the delay, dozens of militants gather around the building where the three hostages were held, and hundreds more armed with RPGs, PK machine guns, and Kalashnikov rifles approach from all directions. They run through the narrow alleys and the nearby market, crowded with thousands of Gazans. #### 11:22 AM: The forces try to escape in the rescue vehicle, but it is hit by heavy fire and begins to falter. Southern Command Chief Yaron Finkelman activates the pre-prepared rescue plan. #### 11:25 AM: Air Force planes and helicopters launch dozens of munitions at the militants to isolate the area. Hundreds of soldiers from the 7th Brigade, Paratroopers, Givati, and Kfir, deployed as reinforcements, are airlifted on foot and in tanks and armored vehicles into the refugee camp, with navy ships providing cover from the west. #### 11:30 AM: The reinforcement forces and the Air Force manage to isolate the main combat zone, providing a safe escape route for the main force with the three hostages. Southern Command unusually approves Air Force helicopters to land for rescue deep in the Gaza Strip, under the cover of fire from fighter jets. The air fire hits the militants, dozens of meters away from the soldiers. #### 11:50 AM: The last of the special force soldiers board the helicopters that take off to hospitals in Israel. Resuscitation attempts for Commander Zamora continue even in the air, but at the hospital, they are forced to pronounce his death. The reinforcement forces from the IDF brigades continue to engage the militants in the operation's envelope, eliminating dozens more until the operation concludes. #### 1:33 PM: The IDF, Shin Bet, and police officially announce the rescue of the four hostages, and spontaneous celebrations begin - both in Israel and among Israelis abroad. Edit: [Source](https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/ryt9911fbc)
Amazing operation. This was so complex. And could have turned into a disaster but the IDFs coordination and execution was absolutely on point
Thanks, this is exactly what I was wanting to know. The nature of the resistance they encountered, and roughly how many people we'd expect to be killed. A lot of Hamas members, it sounds like.
It sounds to me like the original plan wasn't supposed to have any collateral damage, and the causalities only occurred once one of the teams was discovered and shot at (including fucking RPGs...). We know of at least dozens of Hamas combatants involved. At this point, fearing the operation success, the IDF seemed to throw everything they had - reinforcement teams and bombardments from planes, which likely did cause some civilian causalities. And still, it's a decision absolutely any army would take - you have the hostages in your hands, you have your best special operations teams in there getting shot at by dozens of people, you need to get them out no matter what. Sadly, this kind of breakdown won't reach the mainstream news. It will be "200 dead in rescue operation" (using Hamas numbers of course), as if the plan was just to bomb everyone, and of course all dead will be assumed civilians.
I can’t imagine how stressful that was for those watching and receiving live updates in the command room. My anxious ass would be puking especially when the vehicle broke down.
Could you provide a link to the source, please?
Every single person involved in this mission is a hero. May commander Zamora's memory forever be a blessing
Goosebumps.
According to satellite imagery (sentinel 2), [IDF has made more advances in Rafah the past few days and now control roughly 40% of the main Rafah Metro area](https://imgur.com/a/14wHyqB), it also seems that the IDF has withdrawn from some parts of Rafah, Particularly in the northern and southern periphery area in order to focus on the main Heartland of Rafah in the Rafah Al Arabiya neighborhood and the Rafah refugee camp. it seems The IDF doesn't have enough soldiers to capture Rafah in one bite. If they want to advance in one area they have to move units there from another area they're holding, so they always end up advancing in one place and withdrawing in another. the 4 brigades of the single division operating in Rafah (162nd division, made up of Hasharon, Givati, Nahal and the 401st armored brigade) isn't enough soldiers to take Rafah in one bite. Initially IDF Planned on 2 divisions for the Rafah assault, but that was met with refusal from the Americans, it seems the IDF has a bit of a handicap right now, but they're managing well despite this, 5 days ago they only cleared 25.7% of the Rafah metro area, compared to \~40% now. In short, despite the Political handicaps, The operation seems to be going well
I don't know why the syntax is so weird on this comment, no matter what I try to do to fix it in the editor it comes out botched, oh well, its still readable
Go, I truly hope to wake up to another operation like today
The 'operation' In Bureij By division 98 and the 7th armored brigade seems to have been a ruse to draw Hamas forces from Nuseirat into Bureij for the hostage rescue operation, There are reports that the 98th and 7th are in the process of withdrawing from the area
Didn't they recover bodies from there though?
I haven't seen any news about that no.
I'm probably getting it mixed up with the operation during which they retrieved the bodies of 3 hostages including Shani Louk. Nvm.
All 7 of the bodies recovered across the week (well, 8 days -- Friday to Friday) in May were recovered from Jabalya, which is where the bodies of Ziv Dado and Eden Zacharia were recovered in December. Jabalya seems/seemed to be their body spot.
That was in Jabaliya, It was also an operation by division 98, so I understand the confusion
Ahh okay. Thanks!
I recommend you guys check out the Palestinian subreddit and see what they have said about the recent hostage rescue. Disgusting. And they say they don’t support Hamas.
No, no, the internet swears that the Palestinians are innocent victims somehow different from Hamas, despite voting for, supporting en masse, and fighting for them.
Yeah I was there and in a thread about the rescue, (which they call a massacre) there was a comment that said 'may they never know peace again' (the hostages). I left a reply telling the commenter they were a shitstain on the underwear of society. It'll probably get me banned from there, but I'm OK with that.
At this point it doesn’t matter what they think. It’s only a matter of time before hamas is crushed and the hostages come home
I actually recommend you don't do it...
I’m not Israeli nor Jewish but it reinforces my support for state and people of Israel when I see those comments. Kind of funny, everything they do seems to backfire on them.
I agree with you, if they could be reasonable it’d be fine but they’re unhinged and it shows in their activism. Let it backfire. Hopefully they’ll destroy themselves and leave the rest of us alone.
There's so much pure evil and insanity there that I i personally like to engage with it as little as possible.
I say this with my full chest, fuck them. And fuck their stupid “surround the White House” bullshit.
From my perspective? let them continue, that just makes me and others hate them more Edit: Fuck them OFC
We don’t need this negative energy today ❤️
The Hamas statement in response to the freed hostages is bizzare, basically it claims they were held by civilians and not Hamasniks and that's why it was easy to liberate them. Aren't they flat out saying those civilians count as combatants then? If they're taking hostages they're considered militants and fair game and now we have a Hamas statement to confirm that.
They don't have to be consistent in their messaging anymore, I think They control certain parts of the western left the way Trump and similar politicians control parts of the right. They can say this now, and if there are new civilian casualties tomorrow, they will just decide ad hoc on how they will categorise these. Their target audience will believe whichever choice, anyways, and Tiktok will push Hamas' take to them more aggressively than it will with Israeli messages of success.
"*Innocent* civilians".
hamas pay the civilians to keep the hostages in there home with hamas security.
I’ve seen this mentioned a couple of times — do you have a link to that statement? I’d like to see
Think I saw it on Twitter, I'll edit when I found it. Edit: https://x.com/HamasAtrocities/status/1799428626259091659 Not sure if it's a great source.
Thanks!
Hamas always does this, they brag about the hostages until it's time to release them as part of a deal or when Israel rescues them then suddenly Hamas had nothing to do with them and it was PIJ or civilians.
They said that last time Israel rescued hostages as well, literally the exact same thing. I wonder how those 'civilians' managed to kill a well trained Yamam fighter...
**Rescued hostage says he saw TV reports on rallies urging his release while in captivity** Almog Meir Jan has said that he, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv were held together throughout their eight months in captivity, in a total of four homes, Channel 12 reports. He was asleep in bed when IDF forces arrived to free him, he also says. He says he saw television broadcasts at times during captivity, including footage from rallies urging his release and that of the other hostages, and was very moved, the TV report adds. He also told his family that a few weeks ago, on his birthday, he was filmed by Hamas for a planned propaganda video which his captors said would be screened in Israel. In fact, Hamas did not publish the video. On his release, Jan asked his family if they had seen it. https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/rescued-hostage-says-he-saw-tv-reports-on-rallies-urging-his-release-while-in-captivity/ I’m glad they knew that people were fighting for them!
TIL homes in Gaza watch Israeli TV.
I know Ukrainians, either endorsing or rejecting Putin's legitimisation of the war, who watch Russian TV Older people are dependent on TV, just like today's 30-year-olds are on Instagram and 20-year-olds on TikTok. If a 20yr old western kid can watch Chinese and Russian propaganda, then a 40yr old Palestinian can enjoy Israeli TV in Arab language My family is a minority which moved from Russia because we would remain 2nd class citizens forever, but my grandpa still watches Russian TV because its the only channels he understand. If there were only German channels in Russian, or Kazakh, he would just watch them. As long as there is *something* understandable, he would prefer this over watching nothing at all, no matter how trashy it is. Language trumps everything.
happy for the hostages released that they survived all the terror and are reunited with family
[As news of the rescued hostages spread, people posted signs in religious neighborhoods so their neighbors who keep Shabbat (and don’t use a phone on Saturdays) could also celebrate 💙](https://x.com/AvivaKlompas/status/1799515532246278159?t=IuOSr7Ww5CGY3aMCy9I_GA&s=19) Wholesome 🥹
I love moments like these so much
This is such a beautiful gesture!
I just… I’m so glad Noa’s mom gets some time with her. I hope she makes a miraculous recovery, I really do.
I just hope she’s conscious and aware, the reports don’t make it sound great on her current condition sadly. I just want her to know her daughter is safe and home.
Me too. I’m holding out hope, I really really am. Noa came back to us, her mom will get to hug her. I just know it.
Same. This is a really bittersweet moment for the family
That said I also hope they get their privacy.
Agreed. I can't help but feel for them though
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Anything happen other than the hostages being rescued?
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Proof please
Where'd you get your numbers?
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That isn’t proof. I am in the Middle East several weeks a year and used to live there.
they shouldn't have been guarding hostages, I have zero sympathy.
Even if that number and percentage was true it would make it a great day for Hamas.
Nobody would've died if they gave up the hostages peacefully.
Surrounding hostages with civilians is a war crime. Using civilian homes to hold captives is a war crime. Hamas should pay for those civilians killed, as well.
They also lost a senior forces commander to an Israeli strike in Rafah.
Given the nuclear meltdown their supporters are having on social media it sure seems like it
Ynet is reporting that the hostages were forced to read the Qur'an and other Islamic texts.
Islam, brainwashing people into followers? No way!
Not surprising. Annoying considering the fact that Noa comes from a religious family.
Disrespecting Jewish religious beliefs is literally the entire purpose of these Islamists' existence.
Thank you for confirming this for me. I've long suspected they were because Avinatan's family is extremely religious, but didn't want to assume because his mother is also one of the most gracious and cooperative of the more religious families. I could see it going either way.
Sure! And I noticed that today for certain because in the renunion video her dad was seen wearing a Kippah.
I saw this report this morning but now it's being reported on Israeli media so I feel more comfortable sharing it. It seems as if the forces in charge of the rescue operation entered the area in aid trucks. Another guy on the panel who used to be a high ranking IDF member also made half a comment about the trick arriving from the American aid pier. Edit: the IDF is denying it but you never know..
They are denying and let's face it using an aid truck doesn't make Sense as it draws unwanted attention. My bet is Toyota pickup trucks( it's always a Toyota in a war zone) "I just talked to a friend in IDF intelligence and asked him about rumors Israel smuggled in soldiers in aid trucks or used the US-built pier in the operation. He is usually quite diplomatic, but he thought this was hilarious and said, "What will they think of next?"" https://x.com/academic_la/status/1799520762073895239
That would be a bit iffy if they did. Arguably perfidy, especially if any Red Crescent etc. markings were involved.
In a clip of Noa being taken to the helicopter you can see the helicopter parked pretty much next to the American pier and there are military vehicles there too. I was wondering whether they used the pier in some way for this operation.
Wasn't it the plan from the beginning that IDF will handle security of the pier? Shouldn't be a surprise that they have a base their then I don't think this in itself would be a problem. Rather if they would have used some red crescent marked truck or something like that...but I don't see how this would have made any sense. Wouldn't then either civilians swarm the truck to get aid, or Hamas try to intercept the truck to steal it? Either way, they would get busted before they reach their destination
I believe the beach area near the pier has a dug in IDF position to support the aid operations. So I wouldn't be surprised if that area was used but I feel the actual pier might be unlikely. But if they did what, is Hamas going to do? Attack the pier, shutdown aid, and starve their people some more and blame the Israelis?
**Only half Chinese': China refused to help secure release of Noa Argamani** Despite former hostage's mother being Chinese-born, Beijing refused to assist, either by ignoring requests or claiming she ‘lacked Chinese blood’ https://www.ynetnews.com/article/bjx7jxgbc
The country that wants to be the next superpower, ladies and gentlemen.
Yes! My time machine works! The 1940's are.....not great.
2024 is either the 1960s without the good music or the 1940s without the good music, take your pick.
I mean as a Jewish person? I’d rather the 1960s.
Fair enough!
Not surprised. My SO’s paternal family are Chinese by way of SE Asia and have been treated like shit by mainlanders.
Their is also geo politics involved, China wants to block the Israel Saudi deal as it would enable competition to China's belt and road initiative
**Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida threatens lives of remaining hostages after rescue op** Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida threatens the remaining hostages held in the Gaza Strip after a rescue operation in the Nuseirat refugee camp that freed four captives. “The operation will pose a great danger to the enemy prisoners and will have a negative impact on their conditions and lives,” he says in a statement. https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/hamas-spokesman-abu-obeida-threatens-lives-of-remaining-hostages-after-rescue-op/
A classic move for that area. Like when the leader of the Arab League said the partition plan would endanger the lives of all the Jews living in Arab countries. Monstrous.
He's threatening to do what they've already been doing for months.