The rescue of a hostage in the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas: Israeli airstrikes, rescue operations and the conflict in Gaza
JERUSALEM — Israel said it rescued a hostage from an underground tunnel in Gaza on Tuesday, freeing one of the scores of people abducted during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that ignited the war in Gaza.
The details of the rescue were not immediately clear. The Israeli military spoke of a “complex military operation.” Senior Israeli officials told The Times that a member of Israel’s Bedouin minority who worked at a kibbutz in the Gaza Strip was seized in the Hamas raid of Oct. 7, and that they came upon him when they searched Hamas tunnels. In either case, he was the eighth hostage to be freed by the military.
Alkadi was one of eight people who were kidnapped in Israel. He was working as a guard at a packing factory in Kibbutz Magen, one of several farming communities that came under attack. He has two wives and is a father of 11 children.
Alkadi’s family was waiting to see him in the hospital, but one of his brothers held Alkadi’s baby since he had not yet met his father, the brother said.
“We’re so excited to hug him and see him and tell him that we’re all here with him,” a family member who gave his name as Faez told Channel 12. “I hope that every hostage will come home so the families can experience this happiness.”
Last week, after the Israeli military recovered the bodies of six hostages in southern Gaza, Israel’s military spokesperson, Hagari, said the army was working to gather more intelligence for rescue operations. He said that rescue operations alone can’t bring everyone back.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Alkadi by phone soon after he arrived at the hospital. He said that Israel would rely on rescue operations and negotiations to bring the remaining hostages home.
Local health officials say over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s counteroffensive. In the past ten years, it has displaced 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people from their homes.
Israeli airstrikes continued on Tuesday across the Gaza Strip, and Palestinian officials said at least 18 people, including eight children, were killed in the attacks.
The previous two Israeli operations to free hostages killed a lot of Palestinians. Hamas says that hostages have been killed in Israeli attacks. Three Israelis escaped captivity and were accidentally killed by Israeli troops.
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While waiting at the hospital, Abu Siam said the family was overjoyed to hear the news but still prayed for a cease-fire.
The United States, Egypt and Qatar have spent months trying to negotiate an agreement in which the remaining hostages would be freed in exchange for a lasting cease-fire. Those talks are ongoing in Egypt this week, but there has been no sign of any breakthrough.
Netanyahu has faced intense criticism from families of the hostages and much of the Israeli public for not yet reaching a deal with Hamas to bring them home.
Hamas hopes to trade the hostages for a lasting cease-fire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners, including high-profile militants.
A deal seemed tantalizingly close at the end of May, when President Biden reported progress toward a phased cease-fire that would lead to the liberation of all remaining hostages and end the grueling fight that has taken more than 40,000 Palestinian lives. Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip Yahya Sinwar and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have both put obstacles in the way of an agreement with each opposing the other’s stance on the resolution of the conflict. Last week Secretary of State Antony Blinken, told reporters that a bridging proposal offered by Washington was probably the best — and possibly the last — opportunity for a deal. There was no last round of talks in Cairo.
Al-Qadi did not join the debate as he profusely thanked those responsible for his liberation. But in a meeting with the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, al-Qadi urged the government “to do everything to bring people home.”