Asharq Al-Awsat Reveals Details of Israeli Attempts to Free Hostages

Israel has deployed “Arabist” special forces units to attack suspected sites housing alive hostages, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Palestinian armed factions sources revealed details about the operations of Israeli special forces to release detainees in the Gaza Strip, whether dead or alive.

The sources spoke about three operations, one of which resulted in freeing a female captive, while another failed. In one of the operations, the forces were able to extract the bodies of killed Israelis.

They explained that the successful operation led to the release of soldier Ori Megidish on October 27, the night of the expanded ground operation in the Strip. They described it as quick and accurate amid heavy air cover, noting that military forces were on alert near the northwestern border of the enclave.

- Freeing Megidish

The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the operation took place inside a house on Hamid Street in the al-Shati Camp, west of Gaza City, when a special unit infiltrated the area, using an ambulance with two armed members of the force inside.

Field investigations conducted by Hamas revealed that the force infiltrated from the northwestern area of the Strip near al-Atatra until reaching the camp.

Investigations revealed that the Israeli perpetrators were fluent in Arabic and attacked the place with silenced firearms. They immediately opened fire on those inside the house, then introduced themselves to the captive and took her to the northwestern border with Beit Lahia.

The sources added that a vehicle bearing a Palestinian registration plate accompanied the force in case of emergency.

Warplanes flew intensely and led an air cover operation by launching mock raids. They attacked the vicinity of the al-Rimal neighborhood and other nearby areas.

Two hours after the operation, warplanes bombed the house, and according to the sources, the captive was with a small armed group, and she was transferred to the house in preparation to hand her over to al-Qassam Brigades.

However, Israeli intelligence was able to monitor these movements and succeeded in reaching her a few hours before transferring her to another safe house.

At the time, al-Qassam Brigades denied, through an audio recording of its spokesman, Israel’s story about the liberation of the female soldier, stressing that even if the operation had happened, she might have been detained by other parties.

- Failed Operation

On December 08, the Israeli forces launched a failed operation in the Nuseirat camp in the middle of the Gaza Strip.

Several members of the special unit were killed and injured during the operation, including the captured soldier. The incident occurred in a small house adjacent to a school in the camp, where there were thousands of displaced people.

According to the sources, the force was able to infiltrate through two civilian vehicles with a Palestinian registration plate, and they arrived at the house before al-Qassam members clashed with them.

The clashes escalated for more than 40 minutes, and the force entered the targeted location attempting to free the soldier. The Israeli army then involved warplanes, bombing the area’s surroundings to ensure the special force was not besieged by any additional Palestinian fighters.

The unit then withdrew from the place, amidst violent gunfire, towards the coastal area of Nuseirat.

The al-Qassam Brigades said that its troops thwarted an Israeli attempt to release a captive and clashed with it, which led to the killing and wounding of the soldiers.

The military aircraft intervened and raided the place to cover their withdrawal.

- Captive Gets Killed

Al-Qassam said it had inflicted military casualties upon the occupation troops engaged in the rescue operation, adding that the Israeli captive named Saar Baruch, holding the card number 207775032, was killed in the process.

Israel admitted that two soldiers were seriously injured, and the mission to rescue the captured soldier had failed.

Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that many Israeli raids failed after it became clear that there were no captives, and some of them were unable to reach the targeted sites.

Israel is trying to reach its prisoners and any possible bodies in Gaza instead of making exchange deals.

The sources said that the Israeli army succeeded in finding some bodies by exhuming graves and examining them. They confirmed that the army exhumed bodies from public cemeteries and temporary graves dug during the war in some squares.

The Palestinian factions numbered the Israeli bodies to identify and hand them over upon completion of any exchange deal.

The sources noted that the army exhumed several bodies from the graves to confirm their authenticity, including the bodies of Palestinians, adding that the procedure continues to this day.

Piles of fishing nets lay on land unused in the southern Lebanese port of Sidon on Tuesday as fishermen stayed ashore after the Israeli military warned of strikes against fighters along the coast.

Commercial vessels and leisure boats were anchored in the harbor, while the city's ancient fish market fell unusually quiet, with traders trying to peddle the catch from earlier in the week.

"The Lebanese army told us we weren't allowed to go out, and we're respecting that," said Mohammed Bidawi, a member of the local fishermen's union.

"If it continues like this, the market will close too."

After nearly a year of cross-border clashes, Israel intensified its bombing campaign in Lebanon on September 23, killing more than 1,100 people and displacing over a million from their homes, according to official figures.

The Israeli army warned late Monday that it would expand its operations against Lebanese armed group Hezbollah to Lebanon's coast.

It warned people to stay away from the shore in the area south of the Al-Awali river, which flows into the sea to the north of Sidon.

Issam Haboush, another fisherman, said he was worried about his family.

"Fishing is the way we support our children. If we don't go out to sea, we won't be able to feed ourselves," he said, adding that hundreds of families depended on the trade.

Bidawi said the de facto ban on fishing in Sidon had plunged around "5,000 to 6,000 people" into difficulty, the latest blow after a huge financial crisis in the country since 2019.

"The fishermen and traders at the fish market are going to need help," he said.

Before the war, Lebanon's fleet of 3,000 fishing boats reaped in between 3,000 and 3,500 tons of fish each year, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization said in 2021.

Fisherman Hamza Sonbol said he and his colleagues had become destitute overnight.

"We've become like the country's displaced," he said.

- 'Upsetting' -

Freediving instructor Marwan Hariri, 47, also has a boat in the port to take students out on for lessons.

"Since yesterday I've been feeling very down," he said.

He had already lost 70 percent of his students in the past year of border clashes, as they largely came from southern areas under heavy Israeli bombardment, he said.

"I haven't even been opening the diving center. I've just been going down to the sea to go spearfishing," he said.

Despite the financial crisis and the tensions in the south, he was still enjoying diving with his speargun which he said was a way to temporarily escape from the news.

On Monday, he put his catch up for auction among acquaintances and managed to sell it for $56.

Then the Israeli military issued its warning.

Despite the perfect weather conditions on Monday morning, when he went down to the beach, he saw no fishermen coming back on their boats.

"It was really upsetting," he said.

Asharq Al-Awsat Reveals Details of Israeli Attempts to Free Hostages