On October 7, Hamas took more than two hundred Israelis hostage from the Nova Music Festival. According to the Israeli army, four of them were rescued during a recent operation in central Gaza.

The Gaza Ministry of Health said that 210 Palestinians were killed in the joint air, land and sea operation in several places in central and northern Gaza, including Rafah, on Saturday. Many others were injured.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) also released the names of those rescued. They are Noah Argamani (25), Almog Meir Jan (21), Andrei Kozlov (27) and Shlomi Ziv (40).

The rare rescue of hostages took place eight months into the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza. On October 7 last year, Hamas attacked the music festival near the Gaza border and other areas of southern Israel. They took 251 hostages. 116 of whom are still imprisoned in the Palestinian territories and 41 are claimed dead by the Israeli army. Noah Argamani, an Israeli citizen of Chinese descent, was also kidnapped from the festival.

In November, however, Hamas agreed to a week-long ceasefire. At that time, the organization released 105 hostages in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons.

The IDF said they were rescued from two separate locations in Nusirat, central Gaza, in a joint operation by the Israel Security Agency and Israel Police.

Regarding the current physical condition of the rescued, the IDF said they are doing well. However, they were transferred to Sheba Tel-Hashoma Medical Center for further medical examination.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry of Hamas-ruled Gaza says that at least 210 people, including children, were killed and several others injured in the operation. Al-Aqsa Hospital staff are struggling to treat the injured.

On behalf of the ministry, a post on social media Facebook said, “Several injured people are lying down and doctors are trying to save them with normal medical skills.”

Meanwhile, The Hostage Family Forum, a group representing the families of the Israeli hostages, called the rescue of the four hostages a “miraculous victory” and thanked the IDF for the “heroic operation”.

“The Israeli government must remember its promise to return the 120 hostages held by Hamas,” the group said.

Meanwhile, in response to Nusirat’s military campaign, Ismail Haniya, the political leader of Hamas, said, “Israel cannot impose its choice on Hamas.” Hamas will not sign a cease-fire agreement until the Palestinians are guaranteed security.