The Israeli military said it freed two hostages held in captivity in the Gaza Strip early Monday, marking a modest but symbolically important success in its quest to bring home more than 100 captives believed to be held by Hamas.
Two Israeli hostages, Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70, have been released during a raid carried out overnight from Sunday to Monday, following a series of Israeli strikes on Rafah.
The now ex-hostages were kidnapped by Hamas militants in Kibbutz Nir Yizhak during the October 7 cross-border attack that sparked the war. Both were flown to Sheba Hospital in central Israel and are in good condition. They are the second and third hostages to be rescued unharmed. A female soldier was rescued in November.
Har’s son-in-law, Idan Bergerano, told Israeli television station Channel 13 that he and his wife were able to see the released captives at the hospital. He said both men were thin and pale, but communicated well and were aware of their surroundings.
Monday’s raid included at least 15 airstrikes, flares and fire from Apache helicopters, according to witnesses. Army spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht said the operation was based on “precise information” and that the site, located on the second floor of a building, had been under surveillance for some time. He said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remained in contact with the Israeli military commander and other senior officials during the course of the raid.
Israel has made the return of all hostages one of the main goals of the war. Of the 128 hostages remaining in Hamas hands, 29 are believed to have been killed. Benjamin Netanyahu promised to continue the Israeli military offensive until “total victory“, which also involves the destruction of Hamas’s military and administrative capabilities, and ordered the army to prepare an offensive on Rafah, the last locality in the Palestinian enclave still spared by ground fighting.
Rafah, next target of an Israeli ground offensive
The Hamas health ministry said at least 67 people were killed in the overnight strikes, although it was unclear whether all of the strikes were linked to the release of the hostages.
The city is located in the far south of the Gaza Strip where 1.4 million Palestinians have taken refuge to escape fighting elsewhere in the war between Israel and Hamas. The Israeli government has described Rafah as the last Hamas stronghold in Gaza after more than four months of war and indicated that its ground offensive will soon target the densely populated city. Hamas warned on Sunday that such an offensive “would torpedo” any agreement for the release of the hostages he still holds in Gaza.
Sunday, during a telephone interview lasting around forty minutes, US President Joe Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel should not carry out a military operation against Hamas in Rafah without a plan”credible and enforceable“to protect civilians.
For his part, Benjamin Netanyahu affirms that his country will ensure “a safe passage for the civilian population so that they can leave“the city… without specifying where civilians could take refuge.
“An Israeli offensive on Rafah would lead to an indescribable humanitarian catastrophe and serious tensions with Egypt“, warned Josep Borrell, the head of foreign policy of the European Union, via the X network. Human Rights Watch recalled that the forced displacement of civilians constitutes a war crime.
In more than 4 months of war, the Israeli offensive has left more than 28,000 dead in the Gaza Strip, the vast majority civilians, according to the Hamas health ministry.