Harrowing new footage shows the moment IDF special forces rescued four hostages during a raid in Gaza, before opening fire on their captors.
Hostages Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, Shlomi Ziv and Noa Argamani were taken by Hamas on October 7 and rescued from two apartments in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on Saturday.
Shocking video of the moment special forces stormed the apartments shows the terrified hostages huddled in a corner as officers greet them.
The soldiers then opened fire on the fleeing men, while bangs and screams can be heard in the background.
The operation was “bold in nature, brilliantly planned and extraordinarily executed,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said.
Shocking video of the moment special forces stormed the apartments shows the terrified hostages looking stunned as they realize they are being rescued. Hostage Almog Meir Jan appears in the photo.
Meir is seen giving a thumbs up shortly after his release while surrounded by IDF soldiers.
The rescue has sparked controversy after the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said 274 people, including children and other civilians, were killed during the mission.
The IDF has claimed that fewer than 100 people were killed in the operation, but if Hamas’ figures are correct, it would be one of the deadliest days of fighting yet.
In the video, IDF forces break into an apartment, searching for targets before breaking into a bedroom where three men can be seen crouching.
One of the officers greets the men, who appear calm, and hits one of them with his fist before helping them out.
The officers can then be seen shooting at the fleeing men in the gardens of the apartment, running through the trees with a burst of loud gunshots heard.
Military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the apartments were about 200 meters from each other, in the heart of the Nuseirat refugee camp.
He said forces trained repeatedly on a model of the apartment buildings and moved simultaneously in broad daylight on both apartments to maintain the element of surprise.
But he said rescuers came under heavy fire as they walked away, including from gunmen firing rocket-propelled grenades from the neighborhood.
He said the military responded with great force, including from planes, to extract rescuers and free the hostages.
In the video, forces break into the apartment, searching for targets before breaking into a bedroom where three men can be seen crouching.
The soldiers then opened fire on the fleeing men, while bangs and screams can be heard in the background.
Of the 250 hostages seized on October 7, about half were freed in a week-long ceasefire in November.
About 120 hostages remain and 43 of them have died. Survivors include about 15 women, two children under the age of five and two men in their 80s.
Saturday’s operation brought the total number of hostages rescued to seven, including one who was freed shortly after the October attack. According to the government, Israeli troops have recovered the bodies of at least 16 other people.
IDF Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said: ‘We are talking about Al-Nuseirat, in central Gaza, where Hamas, in a very cruel and cynical way, keeps hostages inside civilian buildings, in apartments in three- or four-story buildings. .
‘There are three hostages in one apartment, three men, and Noah Algamani in the second apartment.
‘There are only about 200 meters between those two buildings. We decided to do the operation on both because if we had chosen only one, the risk that our hostages would be killed in the other is an enormous risk.
‘They may have been thinking that we are preparing for another raid.
‘You have to understand that they are moving hostages from one apartment to another, it happens from one week to the next.
‘We need to be very, very precise. We gather intelligence in multiple ways to ensure we are ready for this operation.
‘It’s very detailed, like a puzzle, and we never have all the links, but we have to make sure we have enough links.
‘We were building models of those houses to practice. It has to be like a surgical operation, like a brain operation. Because if something happens before another, you could kill the hostages.
‘Why do we choose daylight? Because we understood that in those departments with those guards, the day will be the definitive surprise.
‘The tension in the command room was very, very high. General Levi spoke the word of approval: “Go,” and the forces began to leave at 11 in the morning. The raid occurred around 11:25 a.m.
‘The raid began simultaneously on both buildings. It was very, very complex, very, very intense.
‘In one building, Noa Argamani, we completely surprised them, but it was still difficult.
“In the other building, where the three hostages were, we had to shoot and cross with the guards.”