TEL AVIV, Israel — Dramatic new video shows the moment Israeli hostages were rescued from an apartment in central Gaza, a high-risk operation that left a trail of devastation and raised new questions about U.S. pressure for a ceasefire. fire. fire.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken praised positive signs after the United Nations Security Council backed a proposal outlined by President Joe Biden for a truce between Israel and Hamas that would guarantee the release of hostages still held in the enclave.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “reaffirmed his support for this proposal,” Blinken said Tuesday morning after meeting with senior Israeli officials. He also hailed Hamas expressing support for the UN resolution as a “sign of hope”.
The hostage rescue added uncertainty to complex diplomatic efforts, with new details emerging from the weekend attack.
Police officers can be seen running towards an apartment building in the Nuseirat refugee camp as explosions ring out in the footage, which was captured by their helmet cameras and released by the Israel Police on Monday.
After forcing open the apartment door, they examine an empty room with flashlights before moving into what appears to be a bedroom, where they find at least two of the hostages rescued on Saturday, Almog Meir Jan, 21, and Andrey Kozlov, 27. , visible in the video.
The officers appear to ask the hostages’ names, before Kozlov can be heard shouting back: “Andrey!” as both men raise their hands. Huddled together as fight appears to break out around them, Jan and Kozlov appear visibly shaken before the video cuts to their escape from the building in broad daylight.
The two men were among four hostages rescued by Israeli forces and police on Saturday, with Noa Argamani, 26, and Shlomi Ziv, 40, also released from captivity eight months after they were taken hostage in Gaza during Hamas attacks in 7 of October.
Argamani was held in a separate apartment from the three men, about 200 meters away, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said at a news conference after the attack.
He said forces attacked both apartments simultaneously and carried out the operation during daylight hours to ensure a greater element of surprise.
Amid an intense firefight with Hamas militants during the rescue, a vehicle carrying the three male hostages broke down and commandos were forced to hastily load the hostages into a separate vehicle under fire before taking them to a helicopter that was waiting for them, the IDF confirmed to NBC News on Monday.
Once the escape was complete, the commandos used the code words “we have the diamonds,” Hagari said.
All four were quickly reunited with their families.
Argamani, whose boyfriend Avinatan Or reportedly remains in Hamas custody, was finally able to stay with his mother, who has terminal brain cancer. For Jan, the reunion came hours too late, with his own father dying the morning of the 21-year-old’s rescue.
Blinken also met with families of hostages during his stay in Israel, before heading to Jordan.
Biden administration officials have discussed the possibility of negotiating a unilateral agreement with Hamas to secure the release of Americans believed to remain held hostage in Gaza if current ceasefire negotiations fail, two current and two former senior U.S. officials said. -senior US officials to NBC. News.
The IDF said on Tuesday that General Michael “Erik” Kurilla, commander of US Central Command, arrived in Israel as a guest of Israeli military Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi to conduct an operational assessment and discuss regional challenges. .
The operation had a deadly impact on Palestinians sheltering in Nuseirat, with more than 274 people, including dozens of children, killed during the operation, according to local health officials.
Hagari acknowledged that there were deaths related to the operation, saying the IDF believed the death toll was less than 100 people and did not know how many were Hamas fighters.
Video after the attack showed charred bodies strewn across the streets of Nuseirat, while Palestinians could be seen collecting the remains of those killed. Bloodied children could also be seen arriving at a local hospital, already overcrowded with injured patients.
Israel has faced growing outrage and isolation on the international stage as the death toll continues to rise in Gaza, with more than 37,000 people killed, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, since Israeli forces launched their offensive on enclave after the Hamas attack on October 7. attacks, in which around 1,200 people were killed and around 250 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli officials.
More than 100 hostages are thought to remain held captive in Gaza, with at least a quarter of them believed to be dead.
Andrea Mitchell reported from Tel Aviv and Chantal Da Silva from London.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
