Dramatic moment Israeli soldiers raid Hamas building to rescue hostages

It took weeks for Israeli forces to plan the operation.

This is the dramatic moment three hostages were rescued in Gaza more than eight months after being kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival in Israel.

Footage from the helmet of a soldier from the elite Yamam unit shows the raid ofa house in the Nuseirat refugee camp on Saturday, where Hamas held the men.

Armed with assault rifles, the troops storm the building firing round after round of ammunition in every direction at fleeing militants.

Captives Shlomi Ziv, Andrey Kozlov, and Almog Meir Jan take shelter from all the bullets under mattresses on the floor.

They all appear unharmed and healthy despite the months in captivity, and their arms and legs are not tied together, suggesting they were allowed to move freely in the home.

Once inside, the military unit asks the three hostages to identify themselves by name.

A soldier then fist-bumps one of the men in a sign that they are there to rescue them.

The video ends with the Israeli troops providing cover fire while the hostages flee on foot.

It is the largest rescue since Benjamin Netanyahu launched a war on Palestinians, and the operation took weeks of planning.

But at least 274 people were killed in Gaza, including children, and hundreds more were wounded during the rescue, making it one of the bloodiest Israeli assaults since October 7.

Videos showed bodies of Palestinians spilling entrails onto blood-stained streets.

Ziad, 45, a paramedic and resident of Nuseirat, who gave only his first name, said: ‘It was like a horror movie but this was a real massacre.

‘Israeli drones and warplanes fired all night randomly at people’s houses and at people who tried to flee the area.’

The bombardment focused on a local marketplace and the al-Awda mosque.

‘To free four people, Israel killed dozens of innocent civilians,’ he said.

Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the operation took place in the heart of a residential neighbourhood in Nuseirat.

He said that forces had trained repeatedly on a model of the apartment buildings and moved in simultaneously in broad daylight on both apartments to maintain the element of surprise. 

There are three hostages in one apartment, three male ones, and Noah Algamani in the second apartment,’ he added.

‘There are only around 200 meters between those two buildings.’

Hagari added that Israel’s forces came under intense fire during the assault and responded by firing ‘from the air and from the street’.

In addition, he claimed that fewer than 100 people were killed in the operation.

There are 116 hostages left in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies, including at least 40 whom Israeli authorities have declared dead in absentia.

The spokesperson for Hamas’ armed al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Ubaida, said some hostages were killed during the rescue operation, but another spokesperson Peter Lerner said this was a ‘blatant lie’.

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