Nuseirat Rescue Operation

The Nuseirat rescue operation (initially codenamed Operation Seeds of Summer and renamed Operation Arnon) was a raid carried out by Yamam, the Shin Bet and Israel Defense Forces with intelligence support from the United States in the Nuseirat refugee camp on 8 June 2024 to recover hostages taken from the Re'im music festival massacre during the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel.

Four Israeli captives were rescued— Noa Argamani, Shlomi Ziv, Almog Meir Jan, and Andrey Kozlov—from two multi-story residential apartment buildings in Nuseirat. According to the Israel Defence Force, they were held by Gazan civilians affiliated with Hamas and were guarded by armed Hamas militants.

During the operation, the Israeli military called in an intense air, sea, and ground attack. This resulted in civilian casualties. Ziad, a paramedic and resident of Nuseirat and Abu Ubaida, a spokesperson for al-Qassam Brigades referred to the attack as a massacre. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell described the events as “a bloodbath.” The Gaza Health Ministry reported that at least 274 Palestinians were killed in the camp, including 64 children and 57 women, with at least 698 people reported injured. The IDF said they were aware of fewer than 100 Palestinian casualties. Yamam officer Arnon Zamora was seriously injured and later died from his injuries.

Following the operation, Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obaida warned that it would result in greater threats to the Israeli hostages. The Qassam Brigades later released a short video saying that the raid had also killed three unnamed Israeli hostages, including one with dual citizenship of the USA. No evidence for this claim was provided. The UN human rights office said that both Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups may have committed war crimes. The U.S. had promised aid groups the pier would be a no-go area for Israeli forces and aid operations at the pier are on hold pending a response to aid groups from the U.S. government.

Background

On 7 October 2023, the Qassam Brigades (the militant wing of the Hamas party) launched an attack on Israel. As part of the attack, in which other Palestinian militant groups were also involved, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian militant groups kidnapped around 130 Israeli civilians and soldiers. This attack led to the Israel–Hamas war.

The Nuseirat refugee camp is a long standing UNRWA refugee camp located in the middle of the Gaza Strip, in Deir al-Balah. The camp has been repeatedly bombed during the Israel-Hamas war, with over a hundred Palestinians killed in the attacks. The most recent attack on the camp occurred only days before the rescue operation, with IDF forces striking the UNRWA school in the camp, killing at least 33 people. The deceased classification are contested with Gaza sources reporting a number of women and children were in the death toll, while the IDF said the deceased included Hamas Nukhba and Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants.

This operation was the third known hostage rescue carried out by the IDF since the start of the war. IDF Corporal Ori Megidish was rescued in October 2023 from the northern part of the Gaza Strip, and two male hostages were rescued in February 2024 from southern Rafah. Additionally, a number of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners were exchanged in 2023.

Hostages

All four hostages rescued had been abducted from the Re'im music festival, and were identified as Noa Argamani (26-years-old), Almog Meir Jan (22-years-old), Andrey Kozlov (27-years-old), and Shlomi Ziv (41-years-old). Both Argamani and Meir Jan were festival goers while Kozlov, a recent immigrant from Russia, and Ziv had been employed as security guards for the festival.

Argamani was shown in one of the initial videos released by Hamas documenting the massacre. She was seen being taken away on a motorcycle while yelling, "Don't kill me!" Her arms are outstretched towards her boyfriend, Avinatan Or, who was also being kidnapped. This footage became emblematic of the hostage crisis, leading to Argamani being described as "the face of the Nova music festival hostages." Argamani's family had indications that she was alive, as she appeared in a Hamas video released in January 2024.

The abductees had suffered from malnutrition in captivity and were often beaten. The three male hostages, Shlomi Ziv, Almog Meir Jan, and Andrey Kozlov reported that they had gone through physical and psychological abuse while in Hamas captivity in Gaza, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. For six months they were confined to a single dark room without any contact with the outside world. They faced severe punishments for non-compliance, such as being locked in a small bathroom or buried under blankets in intense heat. The doctor in charge of treatment for the rescued hostages said they were beaten and showed signs of malnutrition due to a lack of adequate food while in captivity. Additionally, the captors subjected them to psychological torment, including threats of death and claims that no one was coming to rescue them. Prof. Itai Pesach at the Sheba Medical Centre who treated the three male hostages, stated that they suffered from severe trauma and had muscle atrophy due to malnutrition. The entire Gaza Strip has faced severe food shortages since 9 October 2023, which were ongoing at the time of the raid.

Argamani said she had been held in four different apartments during her eight months in captivity and that in the last location, the family made her wash their dishes. Ynet reported that she also cooked at times with basic ingredients she was provided.

The Qassam Brigades (the militant wing of the Hamas movement) claimed that three other hostages were killed as a result of the raid. They did not name any of them, or show photographs, but they claimed that one of the three was a US citizen and released a short video with text in Arabic, Hebrew, and English. The video depicted three unidentifiable corpses with their faces obscured by censor bars. The Brigades did not give details of how the hostages supposedly died, but said they were killed by the Israeli military.

Rescue

The IDF said that they worked with Shin Bet and Israeli police to free the four Israeli hostages. It was also later reported that the operation was aided by intelligence support from the United States and the United Kingdom. The operation was planned for several weeks, and was carried out after an intelligence opportunity arose. Some of the special forces members entered the refugee camp in a vehicle with a mattress on top, posing as Palestinian refugees fleeing Rafah per Saudi reporters. They reportedly told locals that they were escaping the Israeli assault on Rafah, while other Palestinian locals alleged that other forces entered in humanitarian trucks. However, a senior official in the Biden administration claims that the Israeli forces did not use an aid truck. The operation began at about 11 am, with the Yamam and Shin Bet officers raiding two multi-story buildings about 200 meters apart, in the center of Nusseirat, where the hostages were reportedly held in two family homes. During captivity the hostages were held in a civilian environment, guarded by armed militants. The female hostage, Argamani, was reportedly held separately from the three male hostages, who had been reportedly held together throughout their eight-month captivity. None of them were held in the Hamas tunnel network.

The IDF stated that, at the time of the rescue, the three male hostages were being held in the family home of Ahmed Al-Jamal, a physician. His son and a freelance journalist were also in the household. Al Jazeera disputed IDF allegations that Abdullah Al-Jamal had been one of its journalists, stating that he had contributed to an opinion piece published on its website but had no other involvement with the network. Abdullah Al-Jamal had also contributed to the ''Palestine Chronicle,'' a nonprofit online publication based in the United States. Ramy Abdu, chairman of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, reported that Ahmed Al-Jamal, Abdullah Al-Jamal, and the latter's wife were all killed after Israeli forces stormed the home by ladder. The ''Palestine Chronicle'' claimed inconsistencies in the Israeli narrative, but a ''Wall Street Journal'' investigation found that the Al-Jamal family had been known for its close ties with and support of Hamas. Locals criticized Hamas for placing hostages in civilian areas.

During the extraction of the three male hostages, a major gun battle reportedly erupted, causing the critical wounding of the commander of the Yaman rescue team for that building. During the operation, the Southern Command and the Air Force said they exchanged fire with Hamas militants. An IDF spokesman said its forces were fired upon inside buildings and during their withdrawal from Gaza. The three male hostages were extracted from the refugee camp, but when the extraction vehicle became stuck, additional forces had to rescue them as the vehicle came under fire. They were then brought to a landing zone on the coast and airlifted into Israel. The abductees were not injured, and were transferred to Sheba Medical Center.

A witness in the camp reported a "crazy bombardment" occurred suddenly, while another stated that the strike happened when people were sleeping. Witnesses reported that entire residential blocks were wiped out. A witness who had been in the marketplace stated that about 150 rockets fell at and around the market place in less then 10 minutes. Per a resident and paramedic in the camp, the assault felt like a "horror movie" and that Israeli drones and warplanes fired randomly throughout the night at peoples homes and those who tried to flee the area. Videos were posted to social media, reportedly showing corpses with entrails spilling out lying on blood-stained streets after the attack, although Reuters was unable to immediately verify the footage. Additional footage showed Palestinians in the market area diving for cover as missiles flew in and gunfire erupted.

The US denied that its Gaza floating pier (intended for the delivery of aid into Gaza) was used in the operation. The denial followed the release of imagery showing the landing zone used for the air evacuation immediately south along the coast from the pier, with the U.S. facility clearly visible in the near background.

Airstrikes

According to reports, "at least one of the vehicles" containing the three male captives broke down and the Israeli military called in support, "attacking from the air, from the sea and on the ground with massive force."

At 11:27 a.m., a strike occurred near the building from which the three male hostages had recently escaped. Subsequently, the building was demolished by another strike. Shortly before noon, another strike demolished the building where Noa Argamani had been held captive. Eyal Shahtout, a resident of a neighboring building, informed ''The New York Times'' that his home was hit, resulting in many of his family members being buried under the debris. 18 of his family members were killed, including his wife, four children, and two grandchildren. The Israeli military did not provide an explanation for why the home was targeted. To the south of the hostage sites, a market was also struck. At 11:45 a.m., plumes of smoke were visible in downtown Nuseirat.

Scores of local people, including children, were killed. According to a statement from Doctors without Borders, which works nearby at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, "there have been back-to-back mass casualties as densely populated areas are bombed. It’s way beyond what anyone could deal with in a functional hospital, let alone with the scarce resources we have here." The Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat was also overwhelmed with casualties, "including many children laid out in the corridors". The strikes destroyed "apartment buildings throughout" he"camp, according to witnesses and video footage". The UN human rights office said that both Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups may have committed war crimes, citing potential "violations of rules of proportionality, distinction and precaution" in the case of the former and "holding hostages in densely populated areas" for the latter.

Casualties

The death toll resulting from the operation is disputed. The Gaza Health Ministry stated on the same day as the operation that the number of victims "has risen to 210 martyrs and more than 400 wounded." Later that day the number was updated to 274 Palestinians killed during the operation with around 700 wounded. Tanya Haj-Hassan, a paediatric intensive care doctor with Doctors Without Borders, stated that Al-Aqsa hospital, where 109 Palestinians including 23 children and 11 women and over 100 wounded victims were transported, was a "complete bloodbath." Another 100 people killed in the attacks were taken to al-Awda hospital. It is not known how many combatants are included in these counts.

According to the IDF, Hamas pays Palestinian families to hold the hostages in their houses, which may account for the high casualties. In addition, a large firefight occurred as IDF special forces were attempting to extract the hostages, reportedly coming under fire from dozens of militants with RPGs and machine guns when their vehicle became stuck. The IDF then called in airstrikes to cover their evacuation. The IDF estimates the number of casualties from the operation was “under 100.”

According to Hamas spokesman Abu Obaida, the operation resulted in the deaths of several other Israeli hostages, which IDF spokesman Peter Lerner dismissed. The day after the operation Hamas's armed wing uploaded a video to its Telegram channel appearing to show corpses of three hostages that were reportedly killed during the rescue operation, but with the faces blanked out to prevent identification. The operation also resulted in the death of Chief Inspector Arnon Zamora, an Israeli Yamam officer.

Aftermath

Argamani was reunited with her father and transported to Sheba Medical Center to be reunited with her mother, where she was being treated for terminal brain cancer. Her father told reporters "Today is my birthday, and what a present I received". During a phone call with Argamani, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that "we didn't give up on you for a moment." Her mother died less than a month later.

Arab Israeli actress and TV presenter Lama Tatour was fired after she created a post on Instagram regarding Noa Argamani's appearance. She wrote: "this is what a girl that's been in captivity for nine months looks like? ..This is what innocent women and children are being killed for in Gaza?" and said that Argamani's eyebrows looked better than her own. Some interpreted her comments as "insensitive" and "mocking" Argamani's appearance.

Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz postponed a scheduled news conference the night of the raid, which coincided with his deadline to resign if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not present a new plan for the war. The following day, he resigned.

Allegations of the United States military constructed floating pier in Gaza being used in the IDF operation, were seen after a video showing an IDF helicopter taking off from the beach with the pier in the background began to circulate online on 8 June. Two United States officials responded to the claims, stating that the pier was only used for humanitarian aid and the helicopter was used to return the hostages into Israel and had landed south of the pier but not within the cordoned off area. The U.S. had promised aid groups the pier would be a no-go area for Israeli forces and the UN has put aid operations at the pier on hold while it investigates and decides whether the Israeli usage, real or apparent, of the pier facilities and the perception of that by Palestinians, mitigates against continued engagement at the pier. Oxfam and other aid organizations said they are waiting for answers from the U.S. government.

Reactions

Domestic

* issued a press release on 8 June calling the actions of the IDF and Israeli military a "horrible massacre against innocent civilians." Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said that "resistance will continue", adding, "If the occupation believes that it can impose its choices on us by force, then it is delusional." The group's military wing spokesperson, Abu Obaida, stated in a press release that: "The operation will pose a great danger to the enemy prisoners and will have a negative impact on their conditions and lives."
* : Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas described the rescue operation as a "massacre." The day after the operation, Abbas instructed the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations to request an emergency session with the United Nations Security Council to discuss the repercussions of the operation and resulting deaths.
*: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "We are committed to do so in the future as well. We will not let up until we complete the mission and return home all the hostages — both those alive and dead." Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the operation was "daring in nature, planned brilliantly, and executed in an extraordinary fashion."
**The family members of those still held as hostages repeated their demands for a ceasefire after the news of the rescue operation. The daughter-in-law of one of the hostages stated that "The hostages don't have time. We can't free everyone in operations and we must go for a deal that will save lives." A member of the health team at the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, stated such operations were not a way to bring back all of the remaining hostages - deceased or living - but instead focus should be a ceasefire.

International

* : Argentine President Javier Milei celebrated the release of the four hostages on Twitter, posting "Long live freedom, damn it!"
* : Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer expressed being "very much relieved," but emphasized, "far too many are still being brutally held hostage by Hamas. All of them need to be released immediately." He also pledged to continue "all efforts" to secure the release of hostage Tal Shoham, who holds Austrian citizenship.
* : the country denounced the killing of civilians, calling it "a flagrant violation of all rules of international law".
* : President Emmanuel Macron Macron praised the hostage rescue and called for a lasting political solution to the war in Gaza.
* : Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote that the rescue of the hostages was a "important sign of hope", adding that "four hostages are now free. Hamas must finally release all hostages. The war must end".
* : the country condemned the "repeated atrocities" committed by Israel in Gaza, including in the Nuseirat refugee camp, and called for an immediate ceasefire.
* : the country denounced the killing of civilians and called "on the international community and especially the Security Council to take immediate and urgent action to stop Israel's war crimes in Gaza."
* : the country denounced the killing of civilians, calling it a "heinous crime".
* : Deputy Foreign Minister Andreas Motzfeldt Kravik condemned the attack on civilians and called for the release of all hostages.
* : Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski wrote: "Bravo, IDF. May all hostages return home and may there be a just peace between Israel and Palestine".
* : the country denounced the killing of civilians, calling it a "barbaric attack".
* : Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wrote that "It is a huge relief to see hostages returned after their unimaginable ordeal and heartwarming to see the pictures of them reunited with their families. We will continue to strive towards an end to the fighting as well as safety and security for all."
* : United States President Joe Biden lauded the rescue of the hostages, and pledges to "not stop working" until all the hostages are freed.

Organizations

* : UN Secretary General António Guterres stated that he had sent messages to the families of rescued hostages Noa Argamani and Shalomi Ziv, to express his "relief that they and two other hostages are now free." Guterres added, "I renew my appeal for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and for an end to this war." Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to housing, said that "Countries that celebrate the release of four Israeli hostages without saying a word about the hundreds of Palestinians killed and thousands held in arbitrary detention by Israel, have lost moral credibility for generations and don’t deserve to be on any U.N. human rights body."
* : A top European Union diplomat Josep Borrell condemned the level of casualties in the Nuseirat refugee camp as a result of the rescue, calling it "...another massacre of civilians". He also called for a ceasefire and the release of all remaining hostages.
* : In response to the operation, the Iranian-backed group launched attacks against northern Israel, stating that: "this targeting came in support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in support of their brave and honorable resistance, and in response to the Israeli enemy's attacks".
* : Secretary-General Jassem Mohamed Albudaiwi described the operation as a "terrorist crime that targeted unarmed civilians with unprecedented barbarism."

See also

* Rescue of Ori Megidish
* Operation Golden Hand
* Operation Entebbe

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuseirat rescue operation, 2024
June 2024 events in Israel
Hostage rescue operations of the Israel–Hamas war
Israeli attacks against the Gaza Strip
Operations involving Israeli special forces
Deir al-Balah Governorate