Explained: How Israel Executed Its Rescue Mission Of Four Hostages

The Israeli's bold operation to rescue four hostages was a military mission that required weeks of planning and intense training before giving the final go-ahead a few minutes before it kicked off on Saturday morning, according to Israeli officials.

The Israeli military revealed that it rescued Noa Argamani, 26; Almog Meir Jan, 22; Andrey Kozlov, 27; and Shlomi Ziv, 41 - four hostages - kidnapped by Hamas from the Nova music festival on October 7, after raiding two buildings several hundred feet apart.

They were found in good health and had been transferred to the 'Sheba' Tel-HaShomer Medical Center for further checkups.

Israel Defense Force's Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said that the rescue mission was planned for weeks using "precise intelligence". The operation took place at around 11 am local time in the heart of Nuseirat in central Gaza. One police officer, part of the force that led the raid, was killed.

Admiral Hagari said Israeli officers had worked for weeks to assemble the necessary pieces for the mission. Israeli soldiers trained intensively based on models of the buildings where the hostages were believed to be held, he added.

"This was a mission in the heart of a civilian neighborhood, where Hamas had intentionally hidden among homes where there were civilians and armed terrorists guarding the hostages," Admiral Hagari said. "And we must act in a way that brings those hostages home alive."

Soon after the raid started around 11 am in Nuseirat's busy market area, bombs were raining down and turning the neighbourhood into "smoke and flames", said Muhannad Thabet, a 35-year-old resident.

"People were screaming -- young and old, women and men," he said by phone. "Everyone wanted to flee the place, but the bombing was intense and anyone who moved was at risk of being killed due to the heavy bombardment and gunfire."

According to one of the defense officials, Israeli intelligence first learned that Noa Argamani was being held in an aboveground building near the market area of Nuseirat. More information received later indicated that three other hostages were in another building in the same section, the official added.

On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant assembled to meet with senior officials to discuss the operation's risk and possible scenarios.

On Saturday morning, Herzi Halevi, the military's chief of staff, and Ronen Bar, the director of Israel's Shin Bet intelligence service, both gave the final go-ahead just a few minutes before the operation started, Admiral Hagari said.

He added that they chose to move in the daylight because, "In the daytime, you take more risks to make sure the surprise element is kept, and we understood that inside the flats it would give us leverage. We surprised them completely, but it was still hard."

The raid started simultaneously in both buildings, where the hostages were in locked rooms surrounded by armed guards, Admiral Hagari said. In the building imprisoning Noa Argamani, the officers took her captors by surprise. In the other, the Israeli's forces engaged in strenuous firefight before retrieving the three remaining hostages.

Alaa al-Khatib, a displaced woman living in the camp, told AFP that she was walking to a market when she saw people climbing out of a refrigerated truck and exiting a small white car. They then took out a ladder and began climbing into an upper floor of a nearby building, she said.

"Moments later, I heard gunfire and explosions from the houses, neighbourhoods and streets of the camp."

They exited the buildings with Hamas combats shooting at them and firing grenades. The officers shielded the hostages with their bodies to try to protect them, and Israeli aircrafts struck in and around the area, targeting the fighters, Admiral Hagari mentioned.

Israel's retaliatory military has killed at least 37,084 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the territory's health ministry. Admiral Hagari said that he had been told the military was aware of Palestinian casualties resulting from the operation, and that he could not confirm how many were militants. He added that Hamas had sought to fire at Israeli forces from behind civilians.

He added that "the cynical way that Hamas is using the population also to fire at our forces" was "tragic."

The hostages were taken by car to two awaiting helicopters. One carried Noa Argamani and the special forces officers. The second carried the three remaining hostages and an injured police commander, who later died from his wounds.

Around 1:30 p.m., the Israeli government announced that the four hostages were home.

IDF shared their pictures on X and wrote, "We will continue to make every effort to bring the hostages home."