
(Scypre.com) – In a daring rescue mission, the Israeli military saved four hostages from central Gaza. The operation, called “Seeds of Summer,” had been planned for weeks and was carried out during the day, giving the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) an element of surprise.
The busy streets filled with people shopping at a nearby market made the mission even more challenging and risky for the special forces.One Israeli special forces officer was wounded and died in the hospital.
According to the IDF’s Chief Spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, this rescue was similar in scale to the Entebbe operation in 1976 when Israel rescued 100 hostages in Uganda.Acting on intelligence, Israeli commandos raided two residential apartments in Nuseirat where the hostages were being held. They found 26-year-old Noa Argamani in one apartment and 41-year-old Shlomi Ziv, 27-year-old Andrey Kozlov, and 22-year-old Almog Meir Jan in the other.
The hostages were not in cages but locked rooms surrounded by guards. The IDF commandos rescued the hostages by wrapping themselves around them as shields and quickly moving them into military vehicles outside.As they left, the IDF faced fierce resistance from Palestinian fighters. Mr. Hagari said the military had planned the raid in great detail, even building mock-ups of the apartments to train for the operation.
The US also provided intelligence support to Israel.The raid involved massive force, and hospitals in central Gaza reported more than 70 bodies. Mr. Hagari estimated less than a hundred casualties, while the Hamas media office claimed more than 200 were killed. The BBC has been unable to verify the number of casualties.The raid caused immense suffering for Palestinians, with hospitals reporting that dozens of people, including children, were killed. Many families were left devastated by the loss of their loved ones.