Israeli Forces Rescue 2 Hostages from Hamas during Raid
- Milton Quintanilla Crosswalk Headlines Contributor
- Updated Feb 13, 2024
According to Israel security forces, two hostages held captive by Hamas have been rescued during a nighttime raid on Monday in Rafah close to the Egyptian border.
Both hostages, identified as Fernando Marman (61) and Louis Har (70), are dual citizens of Israel and Argentina.
“Fernando and Louis – welcome home. I salute our brave soldiers for their bold action which brought about their release. Only continued military pressure, until a complete victory, will bring about the release of all of our hostages,” Israeli president Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
Per CBN News, Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Daniel Hagari explained how the rescue operation took place.
"This is a complex rescue operation under fire in the heart of Rafah, based on very sensitive and high-quality intelligence of the Intelligence Division and the General Security Service," Hagari explained. "This is an operation that we have been preparing for for some time; the necessary preparations (had) been made and we were waiting for the conditions that will allow it to be put into operation."
Both Marman and Har were reunited with their family afterwards.
"They are surrounded by family now and the family that they haven’t (had) for 128 days since the 7th of October massacre. Luckily for us as a family, they were saved tonight, but I must say that the job is not done. We are happy today but we didn’t win. It’s just another step towards bringing all the other 134 hostages back home,” Har’s son-in-law, Idan Begerano, said.
Although Israel wants to further engage Hamas inside Ramah, the White House issued a statement issuing a word of caution.
“A military operation in Rafah should not proceed without a credible and executable plan for ensuring the safety of and support for the more than one million people sheltering there.”
In an interview with ABC News, Netanyahu said that Israel has a plan in place against Hamas.
“This is part of our war effort to get civilians out of harm’s way. It’s part of Hamas’ effort to keep them in harm’s way. But we have so far succeeded and we’re going to succeed again. Those who say under no circumstances should we enter Rafah are basically saying, lose the war. Keep Hamas there. Hamas has promised to do the October 7th massacre over and over and over again.”
Image credit: ©Getty Images/Alexi J. Rosenfeld / Stringer
