Israel Rescues Four Hostages Held in Gaza
Israel’s military said it rescued four hostages held in the central Gaza Strip on Saturday morning, in a complex daytime operation that jolted the war effort, cease-fire talks and Israeli politics. The four were held in two separate locations in the heart of the Nuseirat section of Gaza, the military said, after being kidnapped from a musical festival in Israel on Oct. 7. Noa Argamani, 26, rescued in Saturday’s operation, was shown in one of the first images of the Hamas-led raid into southern Israel as a clip of her kidnapping circulated on social media. In a single hourslong effort, Israel rescued more hostages alive than it had during the entire previous eight months of the war, bringing the total freed by military operations to seven. The result was an immediate boost for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose chief rival, Benny Gantz, postponed an expected resignation from the wartime unity government. The raid immediately threw a cloud over a Biden administration push to strike a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas that would free the remaining 116 hostages in Gaza and a number of Palestinian prisoners. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to arrive in the Middle East to push for the truce, which President Biden needs amid a domestic political maelstrom over the war.
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