We join the people of Israel in celebrating the incredible rescue of two hostages — Fernando Marman and Louis Har — who were held by Hamas for 128 days.
In a remarkable operation straight out of the TV series Fauda, Israeli special forces entered Rafah, snuck into the second floor of an apartment complex, breached a secure door, and defended themselves from Hamas while shielding the two hostages.
The hostages then boarded an IDF helicopter and were flown to a hospital where they reunited with their families.
Prime Minister Netanyahu called it "one of the most successful rescue operations in the history of the State of Israel."
Israel’s heroic operation to save the hostages further demonstrates that Hamas is deeply — and deliberately — embedded in the civilian population in Rafah.
Remarkable footage below shows the two rescued hostages in an IDF tank as they are whisked away to the awaiting helicopter. They were airlifted to Sheba Medical Center, where their children and grandchildren met them for an emotional reunion.
"From the moment of the breach and entry into the apartment, Yamam forces shielded Louis and Fernando with their bodies, initiating a daring battle and heavy exchanges of fire at several locations simultaneously, with many terrorists," said IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari.
134 hostages remain in Gaza.
"Even this morning, we don’t forget for a moment that 134 hostages are still being held in Gaza. If you can hear me now, we are very determined to bring you home and we will not miss any opportunity to bring you home."
-IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari
Expert analysis: "No historical comparison" to what the IDF faces in Gaza
"Israel has painstakingly followed the laws of armed conflict and implemented many steps to prevent civilian casualties, despite enormous challenges," writes Urban Warfare Studies Chair John Spencer in a new historical analysis of Israel’s war against Hamas.
"This war is simply without precedent. Certainly, it cannot be compared to the host of other wars that have been used for comparison sake to paint Israel in an unflattering light."
Herzog Op-Ed: The Case Against Israel Rests on Lies
Today in The Wall Street Journal, Israeli President Isaac Herzog slammed South Africa’s abuse of the International Court of Justice to push its "genocide" accusation against Israel.
"This absurd claim and the abuse of an august international forum convened to weigh its merits remind us how far we’ve come from the moral clarity of the fight against Nazism (after which the ICJ was established)," he writes.
"The South African case, brought in support of Hamas, is a blood libel against the nation-state of the Jewish people — a shameful low for an international system that emerged from the ashes of the Holocaust. This abandonment of moral clarity, the desertion of the vision of international justice and its replacement by cynical politics and outright falsehoods, will have repercussions far beyond Israel."
Read the piece in The Wall Street Journal here (paywall) and a write-up in The Times of Israelhere.
The Senate is likely to vote within the next 72 hours on final passage of the emergency funding package for Israel. Take 30 seconds and email your senators tonight encouraging them to vote YES.
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