Operation Arnon

On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists attacked Israeli communities and gatherings near the Gaza border. The Supernova music festival near Re'im was among the targets, and Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv were abducted there.[5][1] Argamani and Meir Jan were festival attendees, while Kozlov and Ziv worked as security guards.[5]

Hamas and allied terrorist groups abducted about 250 people during the attack.[3] Recovering the hostages became one of Israel's stated war objectives.[6] Before Operation Arnon, two successful rescues had taken place: IDF observer Ori Megidish was freed on October 30, 2023, and Fernando Marman and Louis Har were rescued from Rafah on February 12, 2024.[3] The four people freed in Operation Arnon had spent 246 days in Hamas captivity.[1]

A Ynet article summarizing reporting by the Jewish Chronicle said Israeli intelligence identified the hostages' locations on May 12, 2024, and monitored the area continuously. It described undercover activity in Nuseirat, including in the local market, supplemented by interrogations, aerial surveillance, and technological intelligence.[7] After 19 days of collection, that account placed Argamani on the first floor of one building and the other three hostages on the third floor of another building about 800 meters away. JNS, quoting Hagari, instead reported that the buildings were about 200 meters apart.[7][4]

The IDF said the operation followed weeks of intelligence gathering by the Shin Bet and the Hostage Task Force in the Military Intelligence Directorate, producing information about the hostages' locations and the conditions needed for a rescue.[8] Twenty-eight Yamam fighters trained on models of the target buildings.[7] Hagari said the operation had been canceled three times and compared the scale of the models and simultaneous rehearsals to preparations for the 1976 Entebbe rescue.[4]

The operation was approved on the Thursday evening before the raid after detailed planning, rehearsals, and intelligence monitoring.[9] Halevi gave the assault teams the order to proceed at 11:00 a.m. on June 8, and they entered both buildings at approximately 11:25 a.m.[4] Commanders ordered simultaneous assaults because they feared guards at one site would kill hostages at the other if the operation became apparent.[4][9]

On June 8, twenty-eight Yamam fighters approached the two target buildings in two trucks and received the order to act at 11:00 a.m. The teams then stormed the buildings simultaneously.[7] The wider force included Yamam officers, Shin Bet personnel, and hundreds of IDF troops. The Paratrooper Reconnaissance Unit Combat Team led the ground rescue with Yamam, while Shaldag personnel helped direct airstrikes and armored forces provided cover during the withdrawal.[3][8]

At the first building, where Argamani was held alone, the rescue proceeded relatively smoothly. A Ynet account reported that she was freed within approximately six minutes without injury and taken directly to a helicopter that flew her to Israel.[7]

The second building, where Meir Jan, Kozlov, and Ziv were held together, was more dangerous. The Ynet account said Zamora's force encountered approximately 30 Hamas terrorists in the apartment, armed with machine guns and grenades. The hostages sheltered in a bathroom while Israeli personnel fought the terrorists, secured the apartment, and reached them.[7] Video released by Israeli authorities shows Yamam and Shin Bet personnel entering the room and telling the hostages, "Everything is all right, we came to rescue you, stay calm."[9]

Zamora was fatally wounded during the firefight.[1][7] The same Ynet account said additional terrorists emerged from tunnels around the building and fired machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. The evacuation vehicle carrying the three hostages and the wounded Zamora was hit by two RPGs, prompting activation of a preplanned alternative extraction plan. Paratroopers, Golani, and Givati forces entered the camp with tank support, while Israeli aircraft and naval forces provided covering fire.[7] Unit 669 and Shaldag personnel attempted to save Zamora during the extraction.[1]

The hostages were transported under fire to a helicopter boarding point and flown to Sheba Tel HaShomer Medical Center.[8] Participating units included the Paratrooper Reconnaissance Unit, Mobility Unit 5515, Shayetet 13, the Givati Reconnaissance Unit, and Armored Battalion 532. Kfir Brigade forces had operated in the area beforehand, while the 7th Brigade eliminated terrorists, destroyed military infrastructure, and provided covering fire. The Air Force struck dozens of military targets in support of the rescue.[10]

The four hostages were assigned the codename "the diamonds."[5] Ynet reported that at 11:15 a.m., after they had been secured, the message transmitted was: "The diamonds are in our hands."[9]

Chief Inspector Arnon Zamora was a 36-year-old Yamam squad commander who led the force entering the building where Meir Jan, Kozlov, and Ziv were held.[4][1] He was critically wounded in combat with a terrorist inside the building and was taken to a hospital, where he died. He was survived by his wife, two children, parents, and three siblings.[1] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the operation, originally codenamed "Seeds of Summer," would be renamed "Operation Arnon." The IDF said Halevi and the Yamam commander had agreed on the new name in recognition of Zamora's sacrifice.[1]

The IDF said Zamora had fought terrorists near Yad Mordechai on October 7, 2023, before continuing to the battles at the Nahal Oz base and Kibbutz Be'eri.[8][1]

Professor Itai Pessach of Sheba Medical Center said of the rescued hostages that "they have all suffered physical and psychological abuse for a prolonged period" and "they are all undernourished, even though it is not visible." He explained that returned hostages undergo psychological, psychiatric, physical, and nutritional evaluations and receive support from psychosocial teams.[11]

Later accounts from Meir Jan, Kozlov, and Ziv said they had spent approximately six months sleeping on mattresses on the floor in a dark room. They said guards beat them, threatened their lives, and forced them to read the Koran and pray daily. Ziv said he learned Arabic from Al-Jazeera broadcasts during captivity.[5]

The IDF identified the building where Meir Jan, Kozlov, and Ziv were held as the family home of Abdallah Aljamal, whom it characterized as a Hamas operative. It said Aljamal and members of his family held the hostages there and described the case as further evidence that Hamas deliberately used civilian homes and buildings to conceal Israeli hostages.[8] Abdallah Aljamal and his father, Dr. Ahmed Aljamal, were killed during the raid.[11]

Al-Jazeera Media Network denied that Abdallah Aljamal had worked for the network, saying he had never been an employee but had contributed an opinion article in 2019.[11] That denial concerned his alleged employment by Al-Jazeera. The cited accounts present his role in holding the hostages as an IDF finding rather than as an independently verified conclusion.[8][11]

Operation Arnon was Israel's third successful rescue of living hostages from Gaza since October 7, following the recovery of Ori Megidish in October 2023 and the rescue of Fernando Marman and Louis Har in February 2024.[3] Celebrations took place in major Israeli cities on the night of the rescue, alongside demonstrations demanding further action to bring the remaining hostages home.[12]

The Institute for National Security Studies characterized the operation as exposing weaknesses in Hamas's intelligence security, operational capabilities, and ability to protect the hostages it held.[13] Operational accounts also emphasized the weeks of intelligence collection, building models, rehearsals, and simultaneous assaults that preceded the rescue.[8][4]

INSS warned that Hamas might respond by worsening conditions for remaining hostages, moving some into tunnels or new hiding places, and increasing its psychological and political pressure on Israel and mediators.[13]

Palestinian casualty figures from the operation remain disputed. Ynet reported that Hamas claimed 274 Palestinians were killed, while the IDF said 104 Palestinians were killed or wounded and characterized them as Hamas terrorists or armed civilians who fought Israeli forces.[7] The figures are not directly comparable because one describes deaths and the other combines deaths and injuries; neither was independently established in the cited account.

The operation's compliance with international humanitarian law was also debated. Critics argued that the number of Palestinian casualties could indicate a violation of the laws of war. Dr. Tammy Caner argued that rescuing the hostages provided a significant military advantage and achieved one of the war's overarching objectives. In her assessment, although the operation may have caused significant collateral damage, it was not excessive under the circumstances.[6]

Published accounts differ on some tactical details. The Ynet report summarizing the Jewish Chronicle placed the buildings approximately 800 meters apart, while JNS quoted Hagari as saying they were about 200 meters apart.[7][4] Both accounts nevertheless describe simultaneous assaults on two separate sites.