Israel Releases Intense Bodycam Video Of Hostage Rescues In Gaza
On Monday Israeli forces released dramatic video of the moment a group of hostages were found and led to safety in the daring Saturday raid on a Hamas stronghold in central Gaza. The specific footage shows when three of the hostages were initially located by elite counter-terror commandos and positive identification was established.
The Israeli Police and Israeli Security Agency published the bodycam footage which features first-person perspective of one of the soldiers moving fast through an urban area, breaching what looks like an apartment building, while laying down heavy machine gun fire. The footage was pre-edited before it was released, and later appeared in mainstream news outlets with blurs editing out some of the faces. Watch below:
Israel has released the moment their operators made contact with the hostages.
— Andrew Fox (@Mr_Andrew_Fox) June 10, 2024
A genuinely rare insight into what these kind of operations look like outside of computer games.
pic.twitter.com/2WW846j0KX
The particular footage shows the intense rescue of hostages Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv by forces of the elite Yamam unit and Shin Bet agents. Amid the heavy exchange of gunfire, which also took place in broad daylight, a Yamam officer later identified as Arnon Zmora was killed.
Upon storming the building and making contact, the hostages are asked to identify themselves by name. They are all seen huddling in a small room on mattresses. After that, a soldier tells the hostages, "We’ve come to save you."
In the final scenes of the video, the elite forces lay down cover fire while the hostages escape on foot, which also underscores how risky a situation it was even upon exiting the building. They are seen sprinting through a garden courtyard.
Israeli authorities issued the following statement upon release of the video: "Yamam and Shin Bet operatives worked simultaneously at two locations to rescue the four hostages, engaging in fierce combat with the terrorists."
"Attached is footage from helmet cameras capturing the moments of the rescue, where Yamam officers and Shin Bet (Israel Security Service) operatives storm the locations holding the hostages," the statement continued. "The dramatic rescue amidst fighting and neutralization of the terrorists in the area is clearly visible."
Likely it was just as dangerous or more as the team maneuvered out of the situation, given the major firefight would have attracted more Hamas militants and onlookers.
All of the now freed captives were initially kidnapped by Hamas from the Nova music festival on October 7 and they are: Noa Argamani, 25, Almong Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27 and Shlomi Ziv, 40. Authorities have confirmed they are in good medical condition and they underwent evaluations at Tel Aviv's largest hospital, and are now with their families.
