JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli forces have freed an Israeli hostage in a “complex rescue operation” in the southern Gaza Strip, the army said on Tuesday, more than 10 months after the hostage was abducted by Hamas-led gunmen on Oct. 7.
Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, a member of the Bedouin community in southern Israel, was taken to hospital and his medical condition is normal.
The operation follows the freeing of four Israeli hostages in June and follows continued talks to end fighting in Gaza and return more than 100 hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
“We are doing everything we can to rescue the hostages,” army chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said in a statement.
Israeli television channels showed footage of a military helicopter landing near a hospital as medical personnel stood by.
Alkadi was held hostage in Kibbutz Magen, one of several communities in the Gaza Strip attacked by Hamas fighters on October 7.
(Reporting by James Mackenzie; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Alex Richardson)
