2024-02-12 12:02:00
IDF carried out coordinated lightning operation in Rafah to extract hostages
Israeli forces coordinated a lightning ground and air operation on what they say were Hamas targets in Rafah to secure the release of two hostages, according to IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari.
“In a joint recovery operation of the IDF, the security forces and the special police forces, the special police unit, we recovered Louis Har and Fernando Marman, who were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 in Nir Ytzhak,” he said Hagari during a press conference on Monday. “There was air cover and a wave of attacks by the Israeli Air Force together with the Southern Command.”
Hagari said the covert operation with extraction under fire began at 1:49 a.m. local time, and the accompanying airstrikes began a minute later at 1:50 a.m.
“At 01:49 a.m., special forces entered the building in the heart of Rafah,” he said. “At 01:50 the air cover initiated the action of the Air Force and the southern command to allow the forces to separate and attack the Hamas terrorists in the area.”
Hagari added that Israeli special forces “embraced and defended with their own bodies” the two hostages while they were attacked by their captors who were being held on the second floor of a building.
Within minutes, the two hostages were escorted under fire from Hamas fighters, Hagari added, and then taken to a “safe location” inside Rafah for medical care. They were then flown by helicopter out of Gaza to the Shiba medical center in Tel Hashomer.
“They were intentionally held in the middle of a civilian neighborhood, inside a civilian building, to try to prevent us from rescuing them. But we did,” he said in a later statement released in English. “This rescue mission underlines the importance of our ground operation in Gaza, including Rafah, when conditions allow.”
Hagari also claimed that the “complex” operation had been planned for a “long time.”
“It was a very tense and exciting night,” he added.
Following the Israeli airstrikes on Rafah, the Palestinian Red Crescent (PRCS) also reported that more than 100 people had been killed in overnight attacks. More people are believed to be still trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings.
From translator Michael Rosenblatt and CNN’s Mike Schwarz. Additional reporting by Abeer Salman.
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