NEWLY released footage of the daring Israeli operation to rescue four hostages last week lifts a lid on the dangerous mission.
Helmet cam video shows the troops pouring from a chopper and sweeping into Gaza to free the kidnapped Israelis – including Noa Argamani.
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Operation “Arnon”, carried out by special forces, troops and paratroopers within the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), was in the works for weeks.
Carried out in broad daylight, it involved storming two separate buildings where the four hostages were being kept separately.
Officers from the elite police counter-terrorism unit Yamam along with Shin Bet agents raided the Nuseirat refugee camp in the centre of the Strip.
They rescued Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27, Shlomi Ziv, 40 and Noa Argamani, the 26-year-old whose story made headlines when she was snatched from the Nova music festival on October 7.
READ MORE ON ISRAEL HAMAS WAR
The helmet cam footage begins with a line of troops, kitted out in full gear with rifles poised in front, storming down a Gaza road.
Under the command of IDF paratroopers they rapidly work their way through the war-torn enclave alongside a line or armoured tanks.
As a group of them make their way through rubble and destroyed streets, they arrive at a red door.
More than half a dozen soldiers burst inside and make their way up a darkened staircase.
Although the hostages are not seen in the footage, the caption reads “the Hostages and Special Forces Boarded the Vehicles”.
More heart-racing footage released last week showed the moment the three men – who were kept in Gaza for 245 days – were rescued.
Shlomi, lying on a bed, holds his hands above his head in the footage as troops storm into the dark bedroom.
Andrey and Almog are huddled together on a chair nearby as they too cover their heads.
As the sounds of fighting rage on outside, the hostages huddle together to shield themselves.
Almog quickly jumps to the bed where Shlomi is sitting barefoot and they grip onto each other.
The footage then pans to the troops filing outside, as more gunfire is exchanged – presumably as the Israeli troops fight off Hamas operatives nearby.
The freed hostages can be seen running barefoot as they’re led away from captivity.
They were bundled into choppers after the impressive raid and rushed to hospital in Israel to be checked over.
Israel said a major gunfire exchange erupted at the home where the three men were being held – whereas Argamani’s rescue was smoother.
The mission was renamed Operation Arnon because an Israeli officer, Arnon Zmora, died from his wounds after being shot by Hamas fire.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza claimed 274 Palestinians were killed, including children, during the operation.
Local Abdel Salam Darwish told the BBC he was in a market buying vegetables when he heard gunfire and fighter jets.
He said: “Afterwards, people’s bodies were in pieces, scattered in the streets, and blood stained the walls.”
All four of the hostages were taken by Hamas on October 7 last year, when the terror group launched a brutal attack on the Nova music festival in Israel.
Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 Israelis that day.
Since the war erupted in Gaza soon after, the UN estimates that over 35,000 Palestinians have died.
Who are the four freed hostages?
Noa Argamani
The student was at the Nova music festival in the Israeli dessert when she was kidnapped by Hamas fighters.
Harrowing footage emerged of the militants dragging her away on a motorcycle as she begged “Don’t kill me”.
The 25-year-old university student screams “Don’t kill me! No, no, no”, as the gunmen speed away with her trapped in between them.
Her boyfriend, Avinatan Or, is held tightly by two other terrorists nearby as he watches his helpless girlfriend in horror.
Noa’s family only discovered she had been taken when they stumbled upon the disturbing footage online.
Almog Meir Jan
The 21-year-old was also attending the Nova music festival on October 7 when he was seized.
His mum, Orit, said in an interview he had been due to start a new job in Israel’s “high-tech” sector on October 8.
Almog had been attending the music festival with a friend who was killed and later burned.
Orit said her son had called her at 7.45pm on October 7 to tell her the festival had been stopped and he would call her back every hour – but he never phoned again.
One of his pals is said to have identified Almog in a video clip published by Hamas several hours later.
Andrey Kozlov
The 27-year-old was working as security guard at the music festival on October 7 when he was kidnapped.
He is a native of St Petersburg, Russia, according to the Times of Israel, and had moved to Israel 18 months earlier.
Andrey lived near Tel Aviv with friends before his capture.
Shlomi Ziv
The 40-year-old was also working as a security guard at the Nova music festival.
He spoke to one of his sisters, telling her he was heading home from the festival after the Hamas attack had started.
Shlomi told her there was a bottleneck of cars, according to a Times of Israel report.
He had been at the event with a friend and relative of his wife.
Both died in the massacre.
It was several weeks before his family knew he had been taken hostage.
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