The Israeli military says it has rescued a Bedouin Arab hostage who was kidnapped by Hamas gunmen during the 7 October attack on Israel and taken back to Gaza.
Kaid Farhan Elkadi, 52, was rescued in a “complex operation in the southern Gaza Strip” by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Shin Bet domestic security service, according to a statement.
No further details could be published “due to considerations of the safety of our hostages, the security of our forces, and national security”, it said.
Mr Elkadi is in a stable condition and has been transferred to a hospital for medical checks.
One video showed several members of his family running through the grounds of the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba to be reunited with him.
He is the eighth hostage rescued by Israeli forces since the start of the war in Gaza.
“The operation was part of the IDF’s daring and courageous activities conducted deep inside the Gaza strip,” Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“This operation joins a series of actions taken by the IDF that bring us closer to achieving the goals of this war.
“I would like to reiterate and emphasize: Israel is committed to taking advantage of every opportunity to return the hostages home to Israel.”
Mr Elkadi, a father of 11 and grandfather of one, is from a Bedouin village in the Rahat area, in the Negev desert.
He worked for many years as a security guard at Kibbutz Magen, close to the Israel-Gaza border, where he was abducted 10 months ago.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
More than 40,430 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
