Buchshtav’s death in captivity was announced in July, and his body, along with those of five others, was recovered by the IDF in August.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Hostage Yagev Buchshtav, whose body was recovered by the IDF in July, was murdered by Hamas as Israeli forces came to rescue him, according to an autopsy report.

Buchshtav’s death in captivity was announced in July, and his body, along with those of five others, was recovered by the IDF in August.

Yagev Buchshtav’s mother, Esther, said he was killed in February when the IDF attempted to rescue him, and she addressed the Knesset on Monday with harsh criticism of the policy of trying to free hostages through military pressure.

She said, “My son was kidnapped alive… He should have returned alive. He returned dead. Murdered.”

She added, “The army was close to the tunnel, and they were executed. That’s what comes from military pressure.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that military pressure is the best way to free hostages.

In June, a joint IDF, ISA, and Israel Police (Yamam) mission was carried out in Nuseirat.

In two separate locations, four Israeli hostages were rescued: Noa Argamani (25), Almog Meir Jan (21), Andrey Kozlov (27), and Shlomi Ziv (40).

Arnon Zmora was fatally wounded in the operation and died in hospital a few hours later, and the mission was called Operation Arnon in his honor.

Hamas officials have cited the operation in Nuseirat as a reason for changing their tactics and killing hostages if the IDF approaches on a rescue mission.

Referring to the IDF rescue of four hostages in Nuseirat in June, the al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Obaida wrote on Telegram, “Let it be clear to everyone that, following the incident in Nuseirat, new instructions have been issued to the Mujahideen tasked with guarding the prisoners.”

He said, “These instructions outline how to handle the situation if the occupation army approaches the location where the prisoners are being held.”

He continued, “Netanyahu’s insistence on liberating the prisoners through military pressure instead of concluding a deal will mean that they will return to their families inside coffins, and their families will have to choose whether they are dead or alive.”

On September 1st, the bodies of 6 Israeli hostages were discovered in the tunnel by the IDF, and forensic evidence showed they were killed by Hamas shortly before the soldiers came to rescue them.

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This video captures the moment Bedouin hostage Qaid Farhan Alkadi is freed from a Gaza tunnel and taken by the IDF on a helicopter.

The post WATCH: IDF rescue Bedouin hostage from Gaza appeared first on World Israel News.

Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv aboard the IDF helicopter after the daring rescue mission which also rescued Noa Argamani who was held in another building.

The post WATCH: The moment the three male hostages boarded the rescue chopper appeared first on World Israel News.

Elite forces disguised as Arabs, a fierce firefight and an escape via rescue helicopters under air force jets’ cover fire were all part of the operation that lasted under two hours.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The nitty-gritty details of the IDF’s rescue of four hostages Saturday from deep inside the Gaza Strip included elite forces disguised as Arabs, a fierce firefight, and a hair-raising escape via rescue helicopters, Ynet reported Sunday.

The green light for the mission was flashed by the war cabinet on Thursday night, after the Yamam counter-terrorist unit of the Israeli Police underwent weeks of intensive training, with constant intelligence updates keeping track of the hostages’ whereabouts.

Conditions aligned correctly for the operation Saturday morning at 10 a.m. Two Yamam groups dressed as Arabs made their way carefully to two small apartment buildings in the Nuseirat refugee camp near the Gazan coast.

Noa Argamani was being held in one building, while Almog Meir Jan, Shlomi Ziv and Andrey Kozlov were together in another one 200 meters away.

At 10:50, live video coverage of the area was sent to the Shabak and army command centers, where Shabak head Ronen Bar and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi were overseeing the operation. Ten minutes later, the two personally gave the command to go ahead.

Between 11-11:10, the two teams rushed the apartments, and Argamani was whisked away quickly.

Trouble developed in the other rescue, as hundreds of Hamas terrorists responded to the Yamam force with heavy machine gun fire and the launching of RPGs over the next few minutes as the Israelis began their escape.

While the Israeli troops transmitted over the radio at 11:15 that “The diamonds are in our hands,” referring to the safe extraction of all four hostages, the rescue of the three male abductees was far from complete.

Chief Inspector Arnon Zamora, a senior Yamam commander, was hit during the firefight and badly injured, and the vehicle the Israelis were using to flee was hit by heavy fire and got stuck.

At 11:25, in a prearranged “Plan B,” navy vessels offshore and air force fighter planes and helicopters overhead started firing missiles at the Hamas forces while hundreds of soldiers from the 7th Armored, Paratroopers, Givati and Kfir Brigades stormed into the battle zone on foot and in tanks and APCs.

Within five minutes, the forces, working smoothly together, opened a safe route for the rescuers, who rushed together with the hostages into two Sikorsky helicopters that landed on the beach.

They were protected by the jets’ cover fire that hit pursuing terrorists who were just a few dozen yards away.

At 11:50, the helicopters took off for Israeli hospitals, where Zamora was unfortunately declared dead from his severe wounds.

The mission, which was originally called Summer Seeds, was immediately renamed Operation Arnon in his honor.

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The temporary dock began operating again Saturday morning but was only used for delivering humanitarian aid, the American army said.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The U.S. army denied Hamas reports Sunday that its newly repaired pier off the Gaza coast was used in any way to help Israel rescue four hostages the previous day, although the Americans did reportedly provide intelligence assistance.

“The humanitarian pier facility, including its equipment, personnel, and assets were not used in the operation to rescue hostages today in Gaza,” the U.S. Central Command announced on X. “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.”

In video clips shared widely online, an Israeli Blackhawk helicopter, which is manufactured in the U.S., can be seen taking off from the beach with the pier in the background.

The rescue force used two helicopters to deliver Noa Argamani, Almog Meir, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv to Israel from Hamas captivity in the Nuseirat refugee camp.

Other helicopters were used in airstrikes to support the elite units while they performed the high-risk, daytime extraction.

In a separate post, CENTCOM said that on Saturday it delivered 492 metric tons of assistance, which “is entirely humanitarian in nature.” It also emphasized that “No U.S. military personnel went ashore in Gaza.”

Two American officials told CBS News Saturday that the U.S. had helped Israel prepare for the rescue by facilitating in the intelligence sphere, although they refused to go into any details.

According to IDF Chief Spokesman Daniel Hagari, the Israeli forces had been “preparing for this rescue operation for weeks.”

Its execution was delayed several times, with the need for better intelligence regarding the hostages’ exact location reportedly among other reasons for putting it off.

After their release, the hostages said they had been moved several times during their exactly eight months of captivity, having been kidnapped from the Nova dance festival during Hamas’ brutal invasion on October 7, in which its forces and other terrorists murdered 1,200 and took a total of 253 hostage.

There are still 120 hostages in Hamas hands, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.

The IDF said some 90 Gazans were killed in the operation, which involved a prolonged fire fight with Hamas forces in and around the two civilian apartment buildings in which the four Israelis were being held. The army did not put a figure as yet on the number of noncombatants who may have been killed in the crossfire.

Hamas claimed that about 200 people were killed, but as per their usual statistics, did not differentiate between non-combatant and combatants.

Vice President Kamala Harris was careful to acknowledge the suffering of the Palestinians at a Democratic Party dinner Saturday in Michigan, a swing state with a large Muslim population in which many are angry at the Biden administration’s support of Israel.

“Before I begin, I’ll just say a few words about the morning which I know weighs heavily on all of our hearts,” she said.

“On October seventh, Hamas committed a brutal massacre of 1,200 innocent people and abducted 250 hostages,” she said. “Thankfully four of those hostages were reunited with their families tonight. And we mourn all of the innocent lives that have been lost in Gaza, including those tragically killed today.”

She then reiterated the president’s statement last week that “it is time for this war to end.”

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In February, the IDF rescued two hostages held in a building in Rafah.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Israel told Egyptian officials it plans to launch pinpointed hostage rescue missions in Rafah before a larger military operation in the area, as reported by Lebanese media outlet Al-Akhbar. 

Israel also informed Egypt that there would be a movement of large weapons close to the border to carry out the hostage release operations, but that this activity wouldn’t be in the Philadelphi Corridor.

Egyptian officials said they spoke to their American counterparts who said they approved of the operation in Rafah to free hostages.

According to a report from Politico on Thursday, the US said it would agree with limited and focused operations in Rafah, although it has urged Israel against a full invasion or large operations without concrete measures to protect civilians in the area.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has received widespread criticism for stating Israel’s intention to operate in Rafah, given that 1.3 million Gazan civilians are located there.

However, the IDF says it has developed plans on how to evacuate the civilians, and Netanyahu stressed that a Rafah operation is essential for winning the war, since there are four Hamas battalions located there.

In addition, it is believed that many of the Israeli hostages are being held in Rafah.

In early February, two hostages kidnapped on October 7th were safely rescued from the Gaza Strip and returned to Israel in a joint operation by the Israeli army, police, and Shin Bet intelligence agency.

The two rescued men were named as Norberto Louis Har, 70, and Fernando Simon Marman, 61. Both of the men are Argentinian-born residents of Kibbutz Nir Itzhak near Gaza.

The pair were being held in an apartment building in the city of Rafah, a Hamas stronghold near the Egyptian border.

According to IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari, troops burst into the apartment to rescue Har and Marman, using “intense firepower” against terrorists in and around the building.

The Israeli Air Force was also involved in the rescue, targeting terrorists on the ground and clearing the way for ground forces to operate safely.

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Netanyahu described the mission that brought Fernando Marman and Louis Har back to safety without injuries as ‘a perfect operation.’

By Vered Weiss World Israel News

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to special forces responsible for freeing two Israeli hostages in Rafah and declared the operation “One of the greatest rescue missions in Israeli history.”

Netanyahu was accompanied by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Inspector General of the Israel Police and the Commander of the Border Police.

They visited the Israel National Counter Terrorism Unit and met with the special forces and the commander.

Netanyahu called the mission that brought Fernando Marman and Louis Har back to safety without injuries “a successful operation. A perfect operation.”

The special forces breached a building in Rafah shortly after 1:30 on Monday morning.

There they saw Fernando Marman and Louis Har guarded by three terrorists with other armed terrorists in adjacent buildings.

Guarding the hostages with their bodies, they rescued them under heavy fire but with no injuries.

Airstrikes were also used as part of the mission.

Netanyahu describes how he approved the mission and watched it from the ISA special operations control center.

“Several days ago, the operation was brought to me for approval and I approved it,” he began.

“Afterward, I thought about three things: One, I thought about the sacred nature of the mission. Two, I thought about the risks in relation to the chances, and there were risks. Three, I thought about you, the fighters,” Netanyahu explained.

“I thought about what would happen at the decisive moment, because from experience, I know that at the breakthrough moment, the gap between victory and tragedy is a millimeter,”he said.

Netanyahu continued, “At 01:40 this morning, I saw you placing the charge and seconds later I heard ‘We have the hostages.'”

“You eliminated the abductors, the terrorists, and made your way back without injury – a successful operation, a perfect operation,” he said.

Netanyahu concluded, “I would like to tell you: I am so proud of you. I am proud of you, the ISA and the IDF. You worked like a well-oiled machine. You are simply the best fighters there are. I came here to tell you this and to salute you on behalf of all citizens of Israel. You are the best in the world. Well done!”

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