Negotiations so far more successful than rescue operations in bringing Israeli hostages home from Gaza
JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military has rescued the eighth hostage from Gaza since the start of the 10-month war.
While Tuesday’s rescue sparked celebrations, families of hostages still held in Gaza renewed calls for a deal to bring their loved ones home before it is too late. They say a deal, not military rescues, is the best hope.
International mediators have been trying for months to negotiate an agreement that would see numerous hostages held by Hamas exchanged for Palestinian prisoners and a ceasefire. But Israel and Hamas cannot agree on key points of the agreement.
Of the approximately 250 hostages taken by Hamas militants in the October 7 attack that sparked the war, around 105 were released under a ceasefire in November last year. According to Israel, 108 hostages remain in Gaza, of whom at least 36 are believed to be dead.
“After 10 months, Israeli forces have managed to release a small number of Hamas hostages. The rest must be released through negotiations and an end to the war,” said Mazen Abu Siam, a close friend of Qaid Farhan Alkadi, the hostage released on Tuesday.
According to official Israeli figures, the situation is as follows:
According to AP’s count, the Israeli military has rescued eight hostages in the Gaza Strip.
One of them was brought home immediately after the October 7 attack: 19-year-old soldier Pvt. Ori Megidish.
Two men, Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70, were rescued in February when troops stormed a heavily guarded apartment in southern Gaza. The airstrikes used to provide cover during the assault killed more than 60 Palestinians, including women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The military freed four hostages in June – Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41. According to a Gaza health official, the military killed at least 210 Palestinians in the operation.
On Tuesday, the military announced it had rescued Alkadi.
In December, Israeli troops mistakenly killed three hostages – 28-year-old Yotam Haim, 25-year-old Samer Al-Talalka and 26-year-old Alon Shamriz.
The army’s chief spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said it was believed the three had escaped their captors or been abandoned.
The soldiers mistakenly identified the three Israelis as a threat and opened fire on them, he said.
The hostage crisis in Israel began when Hamas-backed militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and kidnapping about 250 others.
Of the hostages brought to Gaza, 105 were released during a week-long ceasefire in November in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners. Among the released hostages were 81 Israeli citizens and 24 foreign nationals, most of them Thai.
Under earlier agreements brokered by the United States and other intermediaries, four female hostages were released.
Israel believes there are 108 hostages, dead and alive, still in Gaza, including four Israelis captured years ago. Two of them, Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, were Israeli soldiers believed to have been killed in a war in 2014.
Israel says it has declared at least 36 of those abducted on October 7 dead and that their remains were kept by militants, some of whom may have been killed in the attack.
The cause of death of others is unknown, although Hamas claims some were killed in Israeli airstrikes. Israeli officials believe the number of hostages killed could be even higher.
There are still about 70 hostages in Gaza whose deaths Israel has not declared.
These include about 15 women and two siblings under the age of five – Kfir and Ariel Bibas, whose mother Shiri Bibas is also still in captivity.
Also included is Hersh Polin-Goldberg, a 23-year-old Israeli-American who was taken hostage at a music festival where more than 300 people were killed. Polin-Goldberg’s parents have launched a global campaign demanding their son’s release and raising awareness of the plight of the hostages. In April, Hamas released a video of Polin-Goldberg. He was seriously injured in the October 7 attack and had to have his left hand amputated. But the video was the first indication that he had not been killed.
According to the Israeli government, Israeli troops have recovered the bodies of at least 20 hostages from Gaza.
The bodies of two hostages, including soldier Noa Marciano, were returned from Gaza in November, as were the bodies of the three hostages killed by friendly fire in December.
The bodies of seven hostages, two women and five men, were recovered in Gaza in May.
Last week, Israel recovered the bodies of six male hostages.
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