IDF rescues Israeli hostage from Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza

An Israeli hostage was rescued by IDF troops from a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip earlier today, the military announced.

The rescued hostage is Qaid Farhan al-Qadi, 52, from a Bedouin community near the southern city of Rahat, Caliber.Az reports via The Times of Israel.

Al-Qadi, who was working as a guard at a packing factory in Kibbutz Magen on October 7, was abducted by Hamas terrorists from the nearby community of Mivtahim.

Al-Qadi was found inside a tunnel by commandos of the Navy’s elite Shayetet 13 unit. The operation was led by the IDF Southern Command, the Shin Bet security agency, and the IDF’s 162nd Division. He is reported to be in good health.

Currently, it is believed that 104 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.

Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued alive by troops, and the bodies of 30 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.

Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers killed in 2014.

The IDF states that further details cannot be published at this stage “due to issues of the security of our hostages, the security of our forces, and the security of the state.”

The military describes the rescue operation as “complex,” adding that al-Qadi is being taken to a hospital for additional checkups.