Recovery of 6 Bodies is Latest in Timeline of Israeli Rescue Actions in Gaza

Jerusalem, 1 September, 2024 (TPS) -- Israel retrieved the bodies of six hostages from a tunnel in Rafah on Saturday, the third such recovery in recent days. While successful rescue operations are sometimes preceded by unsuccessful attempts, the number of successful operations has been steadily increasing.

“It only makes sense that the more pressure we apply, the more achievements we gain. We push them into the tunnels, and they surface,” Lt.-Col. (res.) Yaron Bouskila, CEO of the Israel Defense and Security Forum told The Press Service of Israel.

“The stronger our presence on the ground, the better the chances of reaching the hostages. It’s important to say that we probably won’t rescue them all; the terrorists are armed and know we’re trying to reach them. In any case, the military pressure creates better conditions for us in negotiations with Hamas,” he said.

Israeli operations have rescued eight hostages alive and recovered 27 bodies.

Here is a timeline of the operations that brought them all back.

Oct. 30: The first rescue — of 18-year-old Pvt. Ori Magidish — touches off emotional celebrations across all areas of war-weary Israeli society. Magidish, who was working as a spotter at the Nahal Oz army base on October 7, has since returned to army service.

Nov. 16: Yehudit Weiss, a 64-year-old resident of Kibbutz Be’eri who suffered from cancer is the first body recovered by Israeli forces. The following day, the body of Noa Marciano is recovered. Both were found in buildings adjacent to the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Marciano’s parents said she was murdered by a doctor at the hospital.

Dec. 12: The bodies of Eden Zacharia and Ziv Dado are retrieved from a deep underground tunnel. Two soldiers were killed and others were wounded during the recovery.

Feb. 12: Israeli forces rescue Fernando Simon Marman, and Louis Har, Israeli-Argentine nationals kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak. Held in a Rafah building surrounded by heavily armed terrorists, Israeli special forces rappel in from an adjacent building while airstrikes created a diversion.

May 17: Soldiers recovered the bodies of Shani Louk, Amit Buskila, and Yitzhak Gelerenter in Rafah. All three had attended the Nova festival. Louk’s half-naked body was filmed on October 7 being paraded through the streets of Gaza.

May 24: The bodies of Orion Hernandez Radoux, Hanan Yablonka and Michel Nisenbaum were recovered from a tunnel in Jabalya.

June 8: Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv are rescued from Nuseirat. The operation was complex as the four were held in two multiple-story apartment buildings close to each other. A special forces officer was fatally wounded during the rescue.

July 2: The bodies of Ravid Katz, Maya Goren, Oren Goldin, Kiril Brodski and Tomer Yaakov Ahimas — all murdered on October 7 – are found in a tunnel below Khan Yunis.

Aug. 20: Israeli forces recover six bodies from a tunnel in Khan Yunis. Although Alex Dancyg, Yagev Buchshtav, Chaim Peri, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell and Avraham Munder were confirmed as alive and in good health at various points after October 7, bullet wounds were found in their bodies.

Aug. 27: Farhan Al Qadi, a 52-year-old Bedouin, is rescued alive from a tunnel in Rafah. Hamas abducted Al Qadi on October 7 from Kibbutz Magen where he was working as a guard in a packing house.

Aug. 28: Israeli forces recover the body of a soldier killed on Oct. 7 and taken back to the Strip. At the request of the family, the name of the soldier has not yet been released.

Aug. 31: Soldiers recover the bodies of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, Alex Labonov, Ori Danino and Carmel Gat from a tunnel under Rafah. According to army assessments, Hamas murdered the six shortly before the arrival of the forces.

At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 97 remaining hostages, more than 30 have been declared dead. Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.