In a daring operation, Israeli commandos have rescued a Bedouin Arab hostage, Kaid Farhan Elkadi, from an underground tunnel in Gaza. Elkadi, 52, was kidnapped by Hamas during the October 7 attack on Israel.
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“We’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. We hope that all hostages will get this moment, that they will all experience the same excitement and joy,” said Hatam Elkadi, Kaid’s brother.
Elkadi, a father of 11 and grandfather of one, is in stable condition in hospital. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated him, saying, “We are working relentlessly to return all of our hostages… We are doing this in two main ways: negotiations and rescue operations.”
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum described the rescue as “miraculous” but stressed that “military operations alone cannot free the remaining hostages… a negotiated deal is the only way forward.”
Mediators are trying to broker a ceasefire deal, but indirect talks have yet to yield a breakthrough. The rescue brings the number of hostages freed by Israeli forces to eight since the start of the war in Gaza.