Harrowing new video shows the moment four Israeli hostages rescued from Hamas captivity on Saturday were airlifted away by helicopter in the middle of an active warzone.
The Israeli military released headcam footage of Saturday’s daring rescue showing members of the Navy’s elite Shayetet 13 commando unit arriving in armored vehicles to help liberate hostages Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andri Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41.
The commandos could be seen accompanied by tanks as they fired at Hamas militants and secured a site for soldiers to call down a chopper coming in from the sea.
After the helicopter lands, a line of Israeli soldiers can be seen covering their fellow troops as they escort Kozlov and Jan towards the helicopter, with the hostages hanging on to the commandos for support.
The helicopter then takes off, exiting the Gaza Strip to deliver the hostages to the Sheba Medical Center, near Tel Aviv, putting an end to their eight-month-long nightmare.
The rescue mission was part of a joint operation led by Israeli police’s Yamam elite counter-terrorism unit and the Shin Bet intelligence unit, with IDF troops storming the central Gazan Nuseirat refugee camp on Saturday morning.
The mission was focused on two Hamas-occupied buildings housing the captives, which were located about 650 feet apart.
One of the buildings was confirmed to be the home of Gaza journalist Abdallah Aljamal, who held Jan, Kozlov and Ziv in the house his family lived in.
The IDF touted the rescue operation as a success that sends “a clear message to Hamas” and demonstrates the military’s determination to secure the freedom of the remaining hostages in Gaza.
The military noted that Arnon Zamora, 36, a commander in the counter-terrorism unit, was killed during the raid while playing a pivotal role in the hostage’s rescue.
The Hamas-run ministry of health, which does not differentiate between civilians and terrorists in its death tolls, alleges that 274 people were killed in the raid.
Israeli officials estimate that there were “under 100” casualties as a result of the raid.
