A hostage taken by Hamas militants during the October 7 attack in Israel that sparked the war in Gaza has been freed following a “complex rescue operation” in southern Gaza, the Israeli military said Tuesday.
Army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Qaid Farhan Alkadi’s condition was “normal.” A video released by the army shows Alkadi smiling and laughing with commandos after his rescue, and later with his family and medical staff at an Israeli hospital.
Hagari said Alkadi, a member of Israel’s Bedouin Arab minority, was alone when he was rescued from an underground tunnel thanks to extensive information about the location. The Hostage and Missing Families Forum said Alkadi, 52, “was able to free himself,” but Hagari said troops “rescued Farhan from the tunnels, he met our forces underground.”
Alkadi later told Israeli President Isaac Herzog that the other hostages were “suffering.”
About 250 people were taken hostage in the Hamas attack, and more than 100 of them remain in the hands of the militants, but many are believed to be dead. Hamas also holds two Israeli civilians captured in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.
The forum, which has often criticized the Israeli government for its failure to reach an agreement to free the captives, said in a statement that it welcomed the rescue but that an agreement was still needed.
“The wonderful news of his return is a sign of light amidst the darkness for the families of the hostages and the people of Israel,” the statement said. “A settlement is the only way to ensure the return of the remaining 108 hostages – the living for rehabilitation and the murdered for a decent burial.”
Developments:
∎ Israel has issued several evacuation orders across Gaza, the largest number since the start of the 10-month war, sparking outcry among Palestinians, the United Nations and relief officials over shrinking humanitarian areas and the absence of safe zones. “The conditions in Gaza yesterday made our work extremely difficult,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday as aid operations resumed.
∎ Negotiations for a cease-fire that would include the release of some or all of the remaining hostages are moving from Cairo to Doha, Qatar, officials said.
∎ The Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion, which was the target of a Houthi attack last week that left it ablaze and required the evacuation of its crew, now appears to be leaking oil into the Red Sea, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
∎ Israel struck a van carrying military equipment in northeast Lebanon on Tuesday night, Reuters reported. On Sunday, Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah exchanged some of the heaviest fire since the start of the Gaza war.
Alkadi: “We cannot imagine the suffering of the hostages”
Alkadi, interviewed by Herzog, said he was “very grateful to the State of Israel and to the army” for his rescue, but urged the government to “do everything to bring people home.”
“Twenty-four hours without sleep, people are suffering, suffering that you cannot imagine,” he told Herzog in a conversation published by the president’s office and translated by The Times of Israel. Alkadi said that when he heard the Hebrew behind the door, “I couldn’t believe it, I couldn’t believe it.”
Alkadi praised the Israeli army for its “sacred work” and said it “risked its life and did everything to save me.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone with Alkadi, telling him that “the entire Israeli nation is delighted with his rescue,” his office said in a statement. Alkadi thanked Netanyahu for the rescue, the prime minister’s office said.
Who is Qaid Farhan Alkadi?
Alkadi was one of six Bedouins captured by Hamas on October 7. He lives with his family in an unincorporated village south of Rahat, according to Israeli media, and has two wives and 11 children. His brother, Hathem, told Ynetnews that Alkadi had lost weight but appeared in good health. He is the eighth hostage to be rescued alive from the Gaza Strip since the war began.
“We are happy to have seen him, and especially to have seen him alive,” Hathem said. “He asked about his family, if his children were okay and if his mother was okay.”
Israel’s Channel 12 showed Alkadi’s family members rushing to the hospital where he had been taken after hearing the news. Rahat Mayor Talal al-Kernawi met with Alkadi, describing him as being in good spirits and happy to be back home.
“We are all happy that Farhan is back, we can see the colour coming back to his face, he is finally seeing the sun, he is seeing the light,” he said.
“It’s a long healing process”
The head of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum’s medical and resilience team called the rescue a “ray of light.” But Professor Hagai Levine added that the health of the other hostages remained unknown.
“It’s clear that there’s no way to save them all through military operations,” Levine said. “After a few days (back home), they start to understand what they’ve been through. It’s a long process of recovery.”
US ready to respond if Iran retaliates against Israel, White House’s Kirby says
White House national security spokesman John Kirby reiterated Tuesday that the United States would be “ready to defend Israel” if Iran sought to retaliate for the July assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, something Tehran has pledged to do.
Speaking to Israel’s Channel 12, Kirby said the Biden administration had discouraged an Iranian response that could escalate tensions between the longtime rivals.
“We believe they are still in position and ready to launch an attack if they wish,” Kirby said, “which is why we have strengthened our force posture in the region.”
This includes two carrier strike groups in the Middle East and an additional squadron of F-22 fighters.
Kirby also told The Times of Israel that imposing sanctions on Israelis who attack Palestinians in the occupied West Bank “remains a viable tool for the future,” after settler attacks left two people dead last week.
Polio vaccination for Gaza children could begin soon
UNICEF said it hoped to begin administering polio vaccines to children in Gaza on Saturday if conditions on the ground allow. More than 640,000 children are targeted for the vaccine, and 1.2 million doses have arrived in the enclave this week, the agency said. UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said Monday that U.N. agencies and partners “are ready to vaccinate children,” but urged the warring parties to commit to a “humanitarian pause” so the effort can be carried out safely.
A case of polio was confirmed last week in Gaza in a 10-month-old child who was in stable condition after developing paralysis in his left leg, UNICEF said. It is the first case of the life-threatening disease in more than 25 years. While there is no cure, vaccines against the disease can provide lifelong protection.
Hamas urges West Bank Palestinians to ‘escalate confrontations’
Hamas leaders on Tuesday called on Palestinians living in the West Bank to escalate tensions with Israeli settlers following the killing of an Arab in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory. Hamas urged Palestinians to gather at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and called for a day of “anger and mobilization” in the West Bank.
“We also call on our valiant resistance and revolutionary youth in the occupied West Bank to intensify their confrontations with the criminal enemy and its settler gangs,” the Hamas statement said.
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Iran ready to discuss nuclear deal with US
Iran’s supreme leader has said he is ready to reopen negotiations with the United States over Tehran’s nuclear program, but warned reformist President Massoud Pezeshkian that the United States cannot be trusted. A 2015 deal capped Iran’s nuclear enrichment in exchange for economic sanctions relief, but the United States, under President Donald Trump, withdrew from that agreement three years later. Now, U.S. officials warn that Iran is rapidly moving toward the ability to produce nuclear weapons.
“We should not wait for approval from the enemies,” Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said in a video message. “There is nothing contradictory in facing the same enemy in some places, there is no barrier.”
Hezbollah-Israel clash could ease tensions, US general says
The massive clash that saw hundreds of Hezbollah rockets fired at Israel, which sent more than 100 planes to Lebanon to destroy militant targets, does not appear to have fueled an immediate escalation of violence, a sign that the near-term risk of a wider war in the Middle East has eased, the top U.S. general said.
However, Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Reuters that Iran remained an unpredictable element that could spark a widespread conflict across the Middle East. Iran has vowed to retaliate for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month.
“How Iran responds will determine how Israel responds, which will determine whether or not there will be a broader conflict,” Brown said.
Contribution from Reuters
