The dramatic Israeli mission to rescue four hostages from a Gaza refugee camp nearly ended in disaster after an elite commando team was pinned down and surrounded by Hamas terrorists — who attacked with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades.
New details have emerged from Saturday’s operation that demonstrate how Israel’s elite Yamam counter-terrorism police unit had to fight their way out of Nuseirat in central Gaza — with three of the four Israeli captives in tow.
The operations, which took weeks of planning, resulted in hostages Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andri Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41, being safely evacuated to Israel.
One Israeli commando, a leader of the Yamam unit, was killed. The Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry claimed that 274 Palestinians were killed — though it did not say how many of the dead were Hamas terrorists.
Disguised Israeli forces get into position
The operation began shortly after 11 a.m., as the Israeli forces approached two buildings about 220 yards apart, where the hostages were being held.
The Israeli military said officials had been planning a rescue mission for Argamani for weeks when they learned that three other Nova music festival hostages were also being held in apartment building nearby.
Palestinians who were near the area said that the operators arrived at the scene in Mercedes SUVs, disguised as Hamas fighters and civilians.
“They were dressed in military uniforms like resistance fighters, carrying helmets and wearing signs of the [Hamas] resistance,” local Khalil Al Tirawi told CNN, noting that the officers arrived in non-military vehicles.
The IDF has denied using civilian vehicles in the operation but declined to comment on whether their forces were in disguise.
Two simultaneous raids
About 11:30 a.m., the Israeli officers simultaneously burst into two buildings — one where Argamani was being held.
Terrorists were holding the other three hostages in the second building.
At the same time, the Israeli air force launched strikes on Nuseirat in an attempt to distract Hamas terrorists from the raids.
Witnesses told the Wall Street Journal and CNN that numerous civilians were injured in the airstrikes.
The raid to free Argamani went off without a hitch — and she was quickly and quietly extracted to safety.
“In Noa Argamani’s building, we surprised them completely,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an IDF spokesman, told reporters on Sunday.
Deadly ambush by Hamas
But in the second building, things went awry. The terrorists guarding the hostages opened fire.
The commotion attracted more Hamas terrorists to the building.
Israel later confirmed the location was the family home of Gaza journalist Abdallah Aljamal, who was among the Palestinians killed.
Once the team’s cover was blown, a gunfight broke out between Israeli forces and Hamas, with Yamam commander Arnon Zamora, 36, critically wounded in the chaotic battle.
Chris O’Leary, the former US government’s director of Hostage Rescue and Recovery, said Yamam officers are some of the most skilled commandos in the world on counter-terrorism operations — similar to SEAL Team Six, the US unit that took out Osama bin Laden.
O’Leary noted that a two-front, daylight rescue mission was always going to carry risks, but he defended the decision as Israel’s best chance to rescue all four hostages, as the three male captives would have likely been evacuated to another location if Israel only focused on saving Argamani.
“Hitting two locations in a rescue mission is extremely difficult because you’re risking the chance that the other team and their hostages could get caught in the crossfire if anything goes wrong,” O’Leary said. “Still, this was a chance they needed to take to save all four hostages.”
Apocalyptical gunfire breaks out
Dramatic, first-person footage from Yamam’s forces show how the elite unit busted into the Hamas compound amid explosions and gunfire to located the male hostages, who were seen hiding in a corner as explosions rang out.
The IDF said it needed to conduct airstrikes near the refugee camp to divert Hamas’ attention from the hostage rescue.
“They were firing RPGs and firing at our forces … the cynical way that Hamas is using the population to fire at our forces, embedding themselves in the civilians is tragic,” Hagari said, “So much fire was on our forces, we needed to fire from the air and from the street.”
Palestinian refugee Abdullah Jouda said she had never seen anything like the shootout and subsequent airstrikes in all the eight months of the war.
“Almost everything was being fired on. Warplanes were firing, drones were firing, sound grenades. It was terrifying, we felt like it was the apocalypse,” he told CNN.
Rescue vehicle, backup ride gets disabled
In the fire, a vehicle packed with Israeli forces and hostages was disabled, with another armored vehicle called in to rescue the rescuers, former Yamam commander David Tsur told the Wall Street Journal.
The rescue vehicle, however, was also disabled by gunfire.
A third wave of Israeli forces to was forced to swoop in and deliver the hostages to a beach on the coast.
The forces waited near the US-built aid pier — leading to claims, which the US denied, that America was involved in the raid.
Footage from the IDF shows the moment the soldiers called in the helicopters to the beach, which fly in from the sea.
After a helicopter lands, a line of Israeli soldiers can be seen covering their fellow troops as they escort the hostages on board, with two of the hostages hanging on to the commandos for support.
The aftermath
After being airlifted from the Gaza shore, the helicopters deliver the four hostages to the Sheba Medical Center, near Tel Aviv, putting an end to their eight-month-long nightmare.
As they received medical treatment over the beatings and abuse they suffered under Hamas custody, the hostages were seen enjoying tearful reunions with their families.
While the Israeli military touted the success of the mission, they acknowledged that there were civilian casualties in Gaza, claiming “under 100” people were killed.
The Hamas-run ministry of health, which does not differentiate between civilians and terrorists in its death tolls, alleges that 274 people were killed in the raid.
