„Nuseirat-Rettungsaktion“ – Versionsunterschied

The Nuseirat rescue operation (initially codenamed Operation Seeds of Summer and renamed Operation Arnon) was a raid carried out by Yamam, the Shin Bet and Israel Defense Forces with support from the United States in the Nuseirat refugee camp on 8 June 2024 to recover hostages taken from the Re'im music festival massacre during the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel.

Four Israeli captives were recovered—Noa Argamani, Shlomi Ziv, Almog Meir Jan, and Andrey Kozlov—from two multi-story residential apartment buildings in Nuseirat. They were held by Gazan civilians affiliated with Hamas and were guarded by armed Hamas militants. The IDF allege that one of the hostage takers was Palestine Chronicle correspondent Abdallah Aljamal, who was killed during the operation that took place in his home. One Yamam officer, Arnon Zmora, was seriously injured during the operation and later died from his injuries. Hamas claims that three other hostages, including a US citizen, were killed. The operation resulted in massive civilian casualties within the camp.Vorlage:Failed verification

During the operation, the Israeli military called in an intense air, sea, and ground attack that resulted in the deaths of scores of Palestinians, including children. The death toll of the accompanying massacre is disputed; the Gaza Health Ministry reported that at least 274 Palestinians died in the camp, the majority women and children, as well as three Israeli hostages, with 698 people reported injured.Vorlage:Excessive citations inline The Gaza Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its statistics, nor how they were killed or by whom. The IDF claims that fewer than 100 Palestinians were killed. Following the operation, Hamas spokesman Abu Obaida claimed that this operation would result in greater threats to the Israeli hostages.

Background

On 7 October 2023, Hamas launched an attack on Israel. As part of the attack, in which other Palestinian militant groups were also involved, thousands of rockets were launched towards the State of Israel and about 3,000 militants from the Gaza Strip infiltrated dozens of Israeli kibbutzim and military installations and massacred hundreds of civilians in nearby kibbutzim and the Re'im music festival. As part of the attack, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian militant groups kidnapped hundreds of Israelis, civilians and soldiers. This attack led to the Israel–Hamas war.

The Nuseirat refugee camp is a long standing UNRWA refugee camp located in the middle of the Gaza Strip, in Deir al-Balah. The camp has been repeatedly bombed during the Israel-Hamas war, with over a hundred Palestinians killed in the attacks. The most recent attack on the camp occurred only days before the rescue operation, with IDF forces striking the UNRWA school in the camp, killing at least 33 people, including Hamas Nukhba and Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants.

This operation was the third known hostage rescue carried out by the IDF since the start of the war. IDF Corporal Ori Megidish was rescued in October 2023 from the northern part of the Gaza Strip, and two male hostages were rescued in February 2024 from southern Rafah. Additionally, a number of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners were exchanged in 2023

Hostages

All four hostages recovered had been kidnapped from the Re'im music festival, and were identified as Noa Argamani (26-years-old), Almog Meir Jan (22-years-old), Andrey Kozlov (27-years-old), and Shlomi Ziv (41-years-old). Both Argamani and Meir Jan were festival goers while Kozlov, a recent immigrant from Russia, and Ziv had been employed as security guards for the festival.

Datei:Kidnapped from Israel posters in Yehud during Iron Swords War, January 2024 58.jpg

Kidnapped posters in January 2024

Argamani was shown in one of the initial videos released by Hamas documenting the massacre. She was seen being taken away on a motorcycle while yelling, "Don't kill me!" Her arms are outstretched towards her boyfriend, Avinatan Or, who was also being kidnapped. This footage became emblematic of the hostage crisis, leading to Argamani being described as "the face of the Nova music festival hostages." Argamani's family had indications that she was alive, as she appeared in a Hamas video released in January 2024.

Rescue

The IDF said that they worked with Shin Bet and Israeli police to free the four Israeli hostages. It was also later reported that the operation was aided by intelligence support from the United States and the United Kingdom. The operation was planned for several weeks, and was carried out after an intelligence opportunity arose. Some of the special forces members entered the refugee camp in a vehicle with a mattress on top, posing as Palestinian refugees fleeing Rafah per Saudi reporters. They reportedly told locals that they were escaping the Israeli assault on Rafah, while other Palestinian locals alleged that other forces entered in humanitarian trucks. However, a senior official in the Biden administration claims that the Israeli forces did not use an aid truck.

The operation began at about 11 am, with the Yamam and Shin Bet officers raiding two multi-story buildings about 200 meters apart, in the center of Nusseirat, where the hostages were reportedly held in two family homes. During captivity the hostages were held in a civilian environment, guarded by armed militants, with the IDF stating this was an intentional method by their captors. The female hostage, Argamani, was reportedly held separately from the three male hostages, who had been reportedly held together throughout their eight-month captivity. None of them were held in the Hamas tunnel network.

The IDF claimed that, at the time of the rescue, the three male hostages were being held in the family home of Ahmed Al-Jamal, a physician. His son Vorlage:Vanchor, a freelance journalist, was also in the household. Al Jazeera disputed IDF allegations that Abdullah Al-Jamal had been one of its journalists, stating that he had contributed to an opinion piece published on its website but had no other involvement with the network. Abdullah Al-Jamal had also contributed to the Palestine Chronicle, a nonprofit online publication based in the United States. A social media account linked to Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that Abdullah Al-Jamal had also been a spokesman for the Palestinian Ministry of Labour. Ramy Abdu, chairman of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, reported that Ahmed Al-Jamal, Abdullah Al-Jamal, and the latter's wife were all killed after Israeli forces stormed the home by ladder. During the extraction of the three male hostages, a major gun battle reportedly erupted, causing the critical wounding of Chief Inspector Arnon Zamora, one of the Yaman members who was the commander of the rescue team for that building. During the operation, the Southern Command and the Air Force said they exchanged fire with Hamas militants. An IDF spokesman said its forces were fired upon inside buildings and during their withdrawal from Gaza.

A witness in the camp reported a "crazy bombardment" occurred suddenly, while another stated that the strike happened when people were sleeping. Witnesses reported that entire residential blocks were wiped out. A witness who had been in the marketplace stated that about 150 rockets fell at and around the market place in less then 10 minutes. Per a resident and paramedic in the camp, the assault felt like a "horror movie" and that Israeli drones and warplanes fired randomly throughout the night at peoples homes and those who tried to flee the area. Videos were posted to social media, reportedly showing corpses with entrails spilling out lying on blood-stained streets after the attack, although Reuters was unable to immediately verify the footage. Additional footage showed Palestinians in the market area diving for cover as missiles flew in and gunfire erupted.

The three male hostages were extracted from the refugee camp, but when the vehicle became stuck, additional forces had to rescue them as the vehicle came under fire. They were then brought to a landing zone on the coast and airlifted into Israel. The abductees were not injured, and were transferred to Sheba Medical Center. The abductees had suffered from malnutrition in captivity and were often beaten.

The US denied that its Gaza floating pier (intended for the delivery of aid into Gaza) was used in the operation. The denial followed the release of imagery showing the landing zone used for the air evacuation immediately south along the coast from the pier, with the US facility clearly visible in the near background.

Airstrikes

According to reports, "at least one of the vehicles" containing the three male captives broke down and the Israeli military called in support, "attacking from the air, from the sea and on the ground with massive force." Scores of local people, including children, were killed. According to a statement from Doctors without Borders, which works nearby at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, "there have been back-to-back mass casualties as densely populated areas are bombed. It’s way beyond what anyone could deal with in a functional hospital, let alone with the scarce resources we have here." The Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat was also overwhelmed with casualties, "including many children laid out in the corridors". The strikes destroyed "apartment buildings throughout" [the] "camp, according to witnesses and video footage". The UN human rights office said that both Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups may have committed war crimes, citing potential "violations of rules of proportionality, distinction and precaution" in the case of the former and "holding hostages in densely populated areas" for the latter.

Casualties

The death toll resulting from the operation is disputed. The Gaza Health Ministry stated on the same day as the operation that the number of victims "has risen to 210 martyrs and more than 400 wounded." Later that day the number was updated to 274 Palestinians killed during the operation with around 700 wounded. Tanya Haj-Hassan, a paediatric intensive care doctor with Doctors Without Borders, stated that Al-Aqsa hospital, where 109 Palestinians including 23 children and 11 women and over 100 wounded victims were transported, was a "complete bloodbath." Another 100 people killed in the attacks were taken to al-Awda hospital. The Gaza Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its statistics, nor how they were killed or by whom.

According to the IDF, Hamas pays Palestinian families to hold the hostages in their houses, which may account for the high casualties. In addition, a large firefight occurred as IDF special forces were attempting to disengage with the hostages, reportedly coming under fire from dozens of militants with RPGs and machine guns when their vehicle became stuck necessitating defensive airstrikes which may have killed civilians.

The operation also resulted in the death of Chief Inspector Arnon Zamora, an Israeli Yamam officer, with the operation's codename subsequently changed to "Operation Arnon" in his honor.

According to Hamas spokesman Abu Obaida, the operation resulted in the deaths of several other Israeli hostages, which IDF spokesman Peter Lerner dismissed. The day after the operation Hamas's armed wing uploaded a video to its Telegram channel appearing to show unidentifiable corpses of three hostages that were reportedly killed during the rescue operation.

Aftermath

Argamani was reunited with her father and transported to Sheba Medical Center to be reunited with her mother, where she was being treated for terminal brain cancer. Her father told reporters "Today is my birthday, and what a present I received". During a phone call with Argamani, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that "we didn't give up on you for a moment." Argmani reportedly claimed that "she had been held in four different apartments during her eight months in captivity and that in the last location, the family made her wash their dishes. Ynet reported that she also cooked at times with basic ingredients she was provided with."

One Arab Israeli actress and TV presenter, Lama Tatour, created a post on Instagram mocking Noa Argamani's appearance and state of health saying that "this what a girl that's been in captivity for nine months looks like?" and that Argamani's eyebrows looked "better than mine!". The TV presenter was fired for her remarks.

Dr Itai Pessach at the Sheba Medical Centre stated that "There have been periods where they got almost no food whatsoever. There were other periods where it was a little better, but all in all, the combination of the psychological stress, malnutrition or not getting enough food or not getting the right kind of food, medical neglect, being limited to space, not seeing the sun and all of the other things have [a] significant effect on health."

Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz postponed a scheduled news conference the night of the raid, which coincided with his deadline to resign if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not present a new plan for the war. The following day, he resigned.

Allegations of the United States military constructed floating pier in Gaza being used in the IDF operation, were seen after a video showing an IDF helicopter taking off from the beach with the pier in the background began to circulate online on 8 June. Two United States officials responded to the claims, stating that the pier was only used for humanitarian aid and the helicopter was used to return the hostages into Israel and had landed south of the pier but not within the cordoned off area.

Reactions

Domestic

• Vorlage:Flag issued a press release on 8 June calling the actions of the IDF and Israeli military a "horrible massacre against innocent civilians." Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said that "resistance will continue", adding, "If the occupation believes that it can impose its choices on us by force, then it is delusional." The group's military wing spokesperson, Abu Obaida, threatened the remaining hostages, stating that, "The operation will pose a great danger to the enemy prisoners and will have a negative impact on their conditions and lives."
• Vorlage:Flag: Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas described the rescue operation as a "massacre." The day after the operation, Abbas instructed the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations to request an emergency session with the United Nations Security Council to discuss the repercussions of the operation and resulting deaths.Vorlage:Bsn
• Vorlage:Flag: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "We are committed to do so in the future as well. We will not let up until we complete the mission and return home all the hostages — both those alive and dead." Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the operation was "daring in nature, planned brilliantly, and executed in an extraordinary fashion."
  • The family members of those still held as hostages repeated their demands for a cease fire after the news of the rescue operation. The daughter-in-law of one of the hostages stated that "The hostages don't have time. We can't free everyone in operations and we must go for a deal that will save lives." A member of the health team at the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, stated such operations were not a way to bring back all of the remaining hostages - deceased or living - but instead focus should be a ceasefire.

International

• Vorlage:Flag: Argentine President Javier Milei celebrated the release of the four hostages on Twitter, posting "Long live freedom, damn it!"
• Vorlage:Flag: Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer expressed being "very much relieved," but emphasized, "far too many are still being brutally held hostage by Hamas. All of them need to be released immediately." He also pledged to continue "all efforts" to secure the release of hostage Tal Shoham, who holds Austrian citizenship.
• Agypten Ägypten: the country denounced the killing of civilians, calling it "a flagrant violation of all rules of international law".
• Frankreich Frankreich: President Emmanuel Macron Macron praised the hostage rescue and called for a lasting political solution to the war in Gaza.
• Deutschland Deutschland: Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote that the rescue of the hostages was a "important sign of hope", adding that "four hostages are now free. Hamas must finally release all hostages. The war must end".
• Vorlage:Flag: the country condemned the "repeated atrocities" committed by Israel in Gaza, including in the Nuseirat refugee camp, and called for an immediate ceasefire.
• Vorlage:Flag: the country denounced the killing of civilians and called "on the international community and especially the Security Council to take immediate and urgent action to stop Israel's war crimes in Gaza."
• Vorlage:Flag: the country denounced the killing of civilians, calling it a "heinous crime".
• Vorlage:Flag: Deputy Foreign Minister Andreas Motzfeldt Kravik condemned the attack on civilians and called for the release of all hostages.
• Vorlage:Flag: Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski wrote: "Bravo, IDF. May all hostages return home and may there be a just peace between Israel and Palestine".
• Vorlage:Flag: the country denounced the killing of civilians, calling it a "barbaric attack".
• Vorlage:Flag: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wrote that "It is a huge relief to see hostages returned after their unimaginable ordeal and heartwarming to see the pictures of them reunited with their families. We will continue to strive towards an end to the fighting as well as safety and security for all."
• Vereinigte Staaten Vereinigte Staaten: United States President Joe Biden lauded the rescue of the hostages, and pledges to "not stop working" until all the hostages are freed.

Organizations

• Vorlage:Flag: UN Secretary General António Guterres stated that he had sent messages to the families of rescued hostages Noa Argamani and Shalomi Ziv, to express his "relief that they and two other hostages are now free." Guterres added, "I renew my appeal for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and for an end to this war." UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese accused Israel of "genocidal intent turned into action." Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to housing, said that "Countries that celebrate the release of four Israeli hostages without saying a word about the hundreds of Palestinians killed and thousands held in arbitrary detention by Israel, have lost moral credibility for generations and don’t deserve to be on any U.N. human rights body."
• Vorlage:Flag: A top European Union diplomat Josep Borrell condemned the level of casualties in the Nuseirat refugee camp as a result of the rescue, calling it "...another massacre of civilians". He also called for a ceasefire and the release of all remaining hostages.
• Vorlage:Flag: In response to the operation, the Iranian-backed group launched attacks against northern Israel, stating that: "this targeting came in support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in support of their brave and honorable resistance, and in response to the Israeli enemy's attacks".
• Vorlage:Flag: Secretary-General Jassem Mohamed Albudaiwi described the operation as a "terrorist crime that targeted unarmed civilians with unprecedented barbarism."

See also

• Rescue of Ori Megidish
• Operation Golden Hand
• Operation Entebbe