Add Category
Noa Argamani buried her face in her father's chest — one of four hostages abducted by Hamas militants eight months ago who were rescued and reunited with their families in Israel on Saturday.
Surrounded by soldiers with his two thumbs up, Almog Meir Jan emerged from a helicopter along with Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv tightly grasped his family when reunited after an IDF rescue operation in Al-Nuseirat, central Gaza.
At least 210 Palestinians were killed in air strikes in the same area, according to Gazan authorities, but it was not immediately clear if the hostage rescue and the Israeli air assault were part of the same operation.
"I'm so happy to be here," Ms Argamani said in videos provided by the Israeli government, after she was reunited with her father in hospital.
"I'm very moved, I haven't heard Hebrew for so long."
Ms Aragamani, 25, was freed alongside Mr Jan, 21, Mr Kozlov, 27, and Mr Ziv, 41.
All four were taken hostage by Hamas militants from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the four hostages were rescued in a special operation from two locations in Nuseirat, and have been taken to hospital in a "good medical condition".
The hostages were being held in two houses in a residential neighbourhood in Nuseirat, the same area where an Israeli strike hit a UN school earlier this week, killing 40 people.
The IDF's chief military spokesman Daniel Hagari said hundreds of Israeli troops took part in a "complex daytime operation".
In a televised news conference, he said the operation had been planned for weeks.
"While under fire inside the buildings, under fire on the way out from Gaza, our forces rescued our hostages," he said.
"The message this morning to Hamas is clear: we are determined to bring back home all the hostages."
One Israeli solder was killed in the operation.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under increasing pressure at home to secure the release of the remaining hostages, commended forces for operating "creatively and bravely".
"We will not let up until we complete the mission and return home all the hostages - both those alive and dead," Mr Netanyahu said.
Palestinian authorities said at least 210 Palestinians were killed and 400 wounded during heavy Israeli bombardment of the Al-Nuseirat Camp during the hostage rescue operation.
Some of the injured were taken to the Al-Aqsa hospital, which officials say is operating via one power generator and could go out of service while dozens of injured people remain on the streets.
Almost 37,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's Gaza offensive since the October 7 attacks, local health officials say.
Israeli officials say Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostage on October 7.
One hundred and sixteen hostages are believed to be still in Gaza, and the Israeli army estimates 41 of those are dead.
Israeli television has broadcast footage of Noa Argamani being reunited with her father.
Her mother, Liora, has stage four brain cancer and in April released a video pleading to see her daughter before she dies.
In a phone call with Israeli president Isaac Herzog, Argamani said she was "so happy to be here".
Argamani became one of the faces of the kidnappings after video of her surfaced on the internet after the October 7 attacks, showing her being dragged into Gaza by gunmen.
She was kidnapped along with her boyfriend Avinatan Or, who is believed to remain in Gaza.
Thousands of people were at the Nova music festival, near the Israeli kibbutz Re'im, when Hamas attacked on October 7.
More than 360 people were killed.
Footage posted on social media showed dozens of people running through fields and along a road, escaping militants as gun shots were heard.
Last month the IDF recovered the bodies of six Israeli hostages from Gaza, some of which were also at the music festival.
The Hostage and Missing Families Forum - a group advocating on behalf of the families of those taken - described the rescue operation as "heroic".
"Now, with the enormous joy all over Israel, the Israeli government must remember its commitment to bring back all 120 hostages still held by Hamas - the living for rehabilitation, the murdered for burial," the group posted online.
ABC/AP/Reuters