Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell denounces ‘yet another massacre of civilians’ in Gaza, amid Israeli rescue operation that freed Noa Argamani and three other hostages and killed dozens of Palestinians
EU Foreign Minister Josep Borrell has condemned the “mass murder” of Palestinian civilians following an Israeli hostage rescue operation on Saturday that freed Noa Argamani and killed dozens of Gazans.
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‘Reports from Gaza about a new massacre of civilians are terrible. We condemn this in the strongest terms,” he noted, adding that “this carnage must end immediately.”
This comes after Israel carried out a fearless raid on two Hamas buildings in Gaza on Saturday to rescue four hostages taken by terrorists on October 7, freeing them via helicopter while they were being fired upon by militants.
‘Operation Seeds of Summer’ is Israel’s largest rescue mission since the start of the Hamas war.
Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 40, were rescued after the daring operation, the largest of its kind since the start of the war with Hamas.
The hostages were held for 245 days after they were kidnapped from the Nova music festival during the October 7 Hamas attack that sparked the war.
They were then reunited with loved ones in a Tel Aviv hospital in emotional scenes.
Borrell had started working on it earlier X to celebrate the release of the four prisoners, saying: ‘Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv are free and safe today. We share the relief of their families and call for the release of all remaining hostages.”
But serious questions have been raised about the human cost of the rescue mission.
Borrell appealed to US President Joe Biden’s ceasefire and release plan, noting that it is “the way forward for a lasting ceasefire and an end to the killings.”
While it is unclear how many civilians were killed following the Israeli operations, gruesome footage from the aftermath of a firefight during the attack in the Nuseirat area shows dozens of dead and wounded women and children on the streets.
The terror group claims that the fatalities include three other hostages, one of whom has US citizenship – which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has dismissed as a ‘blatant lie’.
IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said military intelligence determined some time ago that the hostages were being held in two apartments, about 200 meters apart, in the heart of the Nuseirat camp.
Israeli hostage Noa Argamani is hugged by her father after being rescued by a special Israeli operation
Ms Argamani meets with Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu. The 26-year-old was reunited with her ecstatic family on Saturday after 245 days in captivity
She was able to celebrate her father Yakov’s birthday after spending more than seven months in Hamas captivity
The terrified hostage became the face of the October 7 massacre after video emerged of her shouting “Don’t kill me” as she was kidnapped from a music festival by Hamas terrorists on motorcycles
Noa Argamani (in pink top, jeans and helmet) is helped into an IDF helicopter to escape Hamas after being rescued on Saturday
Hagari estimated that the number of casualties from the operation was under 100.
Hamas took some 250 hostages in the October 7 attack, which killed about 1,200 people. About half were released during a weeklong ceasefire in November.
About 120 hostages remain, of which 43 are dead. The survivors include about fifteen women, two children under the age of five and two men in their eighties.
Israelis celebrated the latest return of hostages on Saturday evening.
Among those rescued is Noa Argamani, who had become the face of the October 7 massacre after a video emerged of her shouting “don’t kill me” as she was kidnapped from a music festival by Hamas terrorists on motorcycles.
In January, Hamas released a chilling video of Noa released from captivity and apparently under duress, calling on Netanyahu to “please stop the war” and “bring us home.”
Almong Meir Jan, 22, is seen crying as he is greeted by his close relatives at the Sheba Tel-HaShomer Medical Center, following his rescue from the Gaza Strip by the Israeli army on Saturday
Shlomi Ziv, 41, who was captured while serving as a security guard at the festival, was seen hugging and kissing his loved ones and during a tearful reunion at the hospital on Saturday. His sister Revital Nasi and cousin Liat met him at the hospital
Andrei Kozlov, a released hostage, reacts after the army said Israeli forces rescued four hostages alive from the central Gaza Strip on Saturday
Emotional scenes showed Noa, 26, reunited with her father on his birthday – the first time they had seen each other in more than half a year since her capture at the Supernova Music Festival.
After her release, Noa was pictured enjoying a Coca Cola with her father, and was filmed receiving phone calls from President Isaac Herzog and Netanyahu.
“I’m so happy to be here,” she said in her phone call with Herzog in a video distributed by his office.
“Thank you for everything, thank you for this moment,” she said, sitting with her father in a hospital room.
In another video, Noa said on the phone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “I am very moved. I haven’t heard Hebrew in so long.’
She was also reunited with her mother, Liora Argamani, who has stage four cancer.
She was kidnapped from the Supernova Festival along with her boyfriend Avinatan Or on the morning of October 7. It is believed that her boyfriend is still alive in captivity.