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Two Hostages Rescued in Gaza During Daring Rafah Operation
Fernando Simon Marman and Louis Hare, two Israeli hostages who, according to the Israeli military, were freed in a special forces operation in Rafah, Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, reunite with loved ones at the Sheba Medical Center, in Ramat Gan, Israel, February 12, 2024, in this still image obtained from a video. Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY
Israelis celebrated the daring rescue operation in the Rafah section of Gaza that brought home two elderly hostages on Monday. “‘You have no greater mitzvah than redeeming captives’ (Rambam).
The IDF announced the rescue of 70 year old Norberto Louis Har and 61 year old Fernando Simon Marman early Monday morning in what was detailed to be a risky but successful operation. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, who serves as the IDF Spokesman, detailed the operation, whereby members of Israel’s elite Yamam unit, the Shin Bet, and the IDF entered the densely populated Rafah city in southern Gaza.
Arriving at 1 am, they entered a building and headed to “the second floor where the hostages were held,” according to Hagari. After killing a number of terrorists, they took the hostages, taking them to a safe area where they were airlifted to Israel. During the operation troops were given “intense firepower from the air. Fire was opened from nearby buildings. The Air Force struck intensively there.”
According to the IDF, no soldiers were killed during the rescue operation while the Hamas-run Health Ministry which does not distinguish between civilians and terrorists claimed that over 100 Palestinians were killed.
“Fernando and Louis – welcome home. I salute our brave warriors for the bold action that led to their liberation. Only the continuation of military pressure, until complete victory, will result in the release of all our abductees,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “We will not miss any opportunity to bring them home.”
The rescued hostages were brought to Sheba Medical Center in central Israel where they were checked and reunited with their families.
The niece of Fernando, Gefen Sigal Ilan, told Israeli media “They came back pale and thin, they haven’t seen sunlight for four months and it shows on them. They both really like good food, so little by little they will get back to enjoying it.”
The father of Eldor said on Monday “No soldier who was kidnapped, no hostage, and no victim of this horror must be in vain. It’s time to bring them all back, we can’t abandon them.”
The operation in the Rafah area is the first public entry by Israeli forces into the southernmost portion of the Gaza Strip, where an estimated 1.5 million Gazans are sheltering after being evacuated from their homes elsewhere in the Strip. Despite the mass of Gazans in Rafah, bordering Egypt, the neighboring Arab states, and Western governments have refused to let any refugees leave the coastal enclave. Objections to operations in Rafah have come from them all, including US President Joe Biden who told Netanyahu in a phone call on Sunday that the IDF should not enter Rafah without proper plans to protect civilians.
Similarly, British Foreign Minister David Cameron said he is “deeply concerned about the prospect of a military offensive” in Rafah. European Foreign Minister Joseph Borrell also said an operation would result in a “unspeakable humanitarian catastrophe.”
Netanyahu has been firm in pushing Israel’s need to enter Rafah, known as a Hamas stronghold and the last part of the Strip where they have in-tact military battalions. Additionally, it is thought that Hamas leadership is hiding in tunnels beneath Rafah. Netanyahu told ABC News on Sunday, “We’re going to do it. We’re going to get the remaining Hamas terrorist battalions in Rafah, which is the last bastion.”
The post Two Hostages Rescued in Gaza During Daring Rafah Operation first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.