Click to see full-size image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) acknowledged that an operation to rescue hostages held in the Gaza Strip on December 2 had failed, confirming earlier claims by the Hamas Movement.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for the IDF, said that two soldiers were seriously wounded during the failed operation.
“The troops raided a Hamas site, killed terrorists who took part in the abduction and holding of the hostages,” the spokesman said, acknowledging that the operation failed and no hostages were rescued.
“We will continue to act in a number of ways, operationally and with intelligence, with the Shin Bet, to return all the hostages home, and to obtain information on them,” he added.
In the morning, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said that its fighters discovered a special forces unit of the IDF mounting a rescue operation and attacked it, killing and wounding several soldiers. It did specify the location of the incident.
It also said that a captive Israeli soldier was killed, naming him as Sa’ar Baruch, 25. Lists of the hostages published by Israel identify one of them as Sahar Baruch, a civilian student who was 24 when he was seized from his home during the October 7 Hamas-led surprise attack which sparked the war in Gaza.
After the IDF acknowledged the attempt, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades released footage showing footage of Baruch’s dead body and military equipment left behind by the IDF special unit that attempted to rescue him. It also revealed that Israeli troops were disguised as aid workers and used an ambulance during the failed operation.
The IDF has been waging a ground operation in Gaza designed in part to recover 138 remaining hostages held by Hamas and other Palestinian armed factions for more than a month now.
Hamas demands a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, including those charged with terror, to release them.
