IDF Rescues Hostage, Father Of 11, In Daring Gaza Tunnel Raid

Israel’s military has announced another big breakthrough operation on Tuesday, after a small handful of prior hostage recoveries. An Israeli Bedouin man has been recovered alive after spending more than ten months in Hamas captivity.

52-year old Qaid Farhan Alkadi is a father of eleven and has been returned safely following a “complex mission” by Israeli commandos which took them deep underground. 

Hostage Farhan al-Qadi meets with the commander of the 162nd Division, Brig. Gen. Itzik Cohen after the rescue operation. Source: IDF/TOI

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari confirmed in a press conference that “He is alive and back home in Israel.”

Alkadi had been taken hostage on Oct.7 while working as a private security guard at Kibbutz Magen in southern Israel. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) had overrun several civilian communities while also attacking border bases during the attack which has been widely dubbed “Israel’s 9/11” – leaving mass slaughter in their wake.

The IDF and the Shin Bet national security agency said they are withholding details of the raid “due to considerations of the safety of our hostages, the security of our forces, and national security.” However an IDF briefing revealed the following:

“This morning, Shayetet 13 troops, the Yahalom unit, and the Shin Bet, rescued Farhan alive from a tunnel in southern Gaza,” he said in a press conference. “The troops reached the area thanks to precise intelligence,” Hagari added

Hagari denied rumors that al-Qadi managed to escape the tunnel in which he was held, saying that troops “rescued Farhan from underground, he met our forces underground.”

Al-Qadi was not discovered by Israeli special forces “by chance” as some reports described, although there was no pre-planned operation to specifically rescue him, military sources said.

The agencies revealed that Alkadi is in stable medical condition after undergoing thorough evaluation in a regional hospital. Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs shared video on X showing the rescued man being rushed by his joyful family members upon his return.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been facing pushback from hostage victims’ families amid stalled efforts to achieve a ceasefire, is hailing it as a win for IDF forces and for his government’s Gaza policy. He has argued staying the course militarily until Hamas is eradicated, but opposition leaders have demanded that a ceasefire and hostage exchange deal should be prioritized.

Body cam footage from the latter part of the daring rescue operation…

New body cam video from Qaid Farhan Alkadi’s rescue today in the southern Gaza Strip pic.twitter.com/LxGtJFpCCH

— Brian BJ (@iamBrianBJ) August 27, 2024

“The Prime Minister congratulated Farhan and told him that the entire Israeli people are excited by his release,” a statement said, and added that the prime minister “clarified in the conversation that he will continue to do everything to return all our abductees home.”

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also hailed that the operation “joins a series of actions taken by the IDF that bring us closer to achieving the goals of this war.” He stressed that “Israel is committed to taking advantage of every opportunity to return the hostages home.”