Four Israeli Hostages Rescued in Daring Operation

In recent weeks, the news of the Israeli hostages taken into Gaza has not been good.  The only updates that the world was receiving was that more hostages had died.  Having been nearly seven months since the last hostage exchange, many began to fear that the hope of finding any remaining hostages alive was gone.  Nevertheless, Holocaust Survivor Ruth Minsky Sender lived by this simply phrase "As long as there is life, there is hope."  These are strong words of great truth, and now, this truth has been realized.  This past weekend, the IDF launched a daring raid on the Nusirat Refugee Camp in Gaza and rescued four Israeli hostages.


The surprise raid rescued Noa Argamani (Age 26), Almog Meir Jan (Age 21), Andrey Kozlov (Age 27), & Shlomi Ziv (Age 40).  They were happily reunited with their loved ones.  Of the four hostages taken, Noa Argamani is the most well publicized.  During the infamous Oct. 7th Massacre, Noa was seen being taken on motorcycle by Hamas militants as she screamed & pleaded for her life.  


The operation has been subject to intense scrutiny by human rights groups, military experts, as well as the media.  While many in the mainstream media praised the rescue of the hostages, other networks were highly critical of the operation, claiming that up to 274 Gazans died in order to free only four hostages.  

BBC Criticism & Response

The BBC even suggested that Israel should have given advanced warning to the Gazans that they were going to launch their raid to free the hostages.  However, that suggestion is nothing short of foolishness.  You don't carry out a "surprise raid" by announcing your plans to your enemies.  This is a fact in any hostage situation.  You don't announce your plans to the kidnappers for the obvious reason that you'd not only jeopardize the lives of your troops, but it would jeopardize the lives of the hostages as well.  Moreover, the media clearly overlooks the fact that nobody would have died at all if Hamas had never invaded Israel and captured hundreds of hostages in the first place.  However, once they proceeded in doing exactly this, IDF spokesman summed it by by stating "Don't kidnap hundreds of our civilians from their beds and expect us to come in dancing ballet & with flowers to get our hostages back" (Link to Video).  

Chief Inspector Arnon Zamora
Many of these reports that are critical of Israel are making criticisms before they can even get verified facts.  For example, while the Gaza Ministry of Health (Hamas run) claims Israel's actions killed 274 Gazans, this number has not been verified & the media outlets themselves acknowledge this.  So far Hamas has only released the names of 86 individuals who were killed while the IDF reports that fewer than 100 died.  Moreover, they fail to convey the reality that this rescue mission took place during an intense firefight in which the IDF forces were fired on by machine guns, mortars, & hand grenades which led to the death of one of the IDF rescuers: Arnon Zamora.


Arnon Zamora's tragic death shows that this was not simply a "snatch & grab," but a rescue mission through intensive gunfire from hostile terrorists.  Though many still feel that the number of "approximately 100 Gazans killed" rather than 274 is still too high, they fail to distinguish how many were Hamas militants & how many were Gazan civilians.  They likewise fail to discern how many were killed by IDF fire & how many were inadvertently killed by Hamas fire.  Hamas misfires have been confirmed to have killed many Gazans throughout the war.  The media also doesn't seem eager to acknowledge that Israeli hostages were held in the homes of Gaza civilians, which in truth, makes those civilians accomplices to this crime.  

The tragic truth is that in this war, it is very difficult to differentiate "Hamas militant" from "Gazan Civilian," and it's extremely difficult to avoid "collateral" damage when these militants deliberately hide within the Civilian population.  These difficulties are further compounded when these "civilians" know that these tactics put themselves & their families in harms way, but they still allow Hamas to keep doing this.  If there's to be any hope for peace, he civilians must put an end to their collaboration with Hamas and start helping the IDF find the militants & the Israeli hostages instead of allowing both the militants & the hostages to be hidden among them.  


Sources:

Mackintosh, Thomas.  "Gaza Health Ministry Says Israeli Hostage Rescue Killed 274 Palestinians."  BBC.  June 09, 2024.  Accessed from https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cw44ve90dppo.

Sanchez, Raf & Chantal Da Silva.  "New Details Emerge About Israel's Deadly Hostage Rescue-And How It Almost Fell Apart."  NBC News.  June 10, 2024.  Accessed from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/israel-hostage-rescue-new-details-gaza-operation-nuseirat-rcna156273.

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