Israeli special forces executed a daring raid on Saturday to rescue 4 Israeli hostages from the Gaza Strip.

With great bravery Noa Argamani, 25, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 40 were saved in a joint mission involving the IDF,Shin Bet, and Yamam counter-terrorism unit. It comes as a much-needed morale boost for the Jewish state after eight months of anguish stemming from the October 7 unprovoked Hamas invasion of Israel that saw over 1,200 innocent civilians killed and 251 captured.

However, the mission was not without its heroic sacrifices. Elite counterterrorism officer Arnon Zamora sustained critical injuries while leading the assault. He later died from his wounds, adding another name to the tragic toll of Israeli lives lost so far.

According to insider accounts from the Times of Israel, preparations for the raid began over a week ago through an elaborate scheme to keep Hamas attention away from the Nuseirat area in central Gaza where the hostages were being held. The IDF began by striking Hamas targets in the outlying Gaza towns of Buriej and Deir al-Balah as a diversion.

Once the decision point was reached on Thursday evening after consultations between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, IDF Chief Herzi Halevi and Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar, elite Yamam and Shin Bet operatives were given the green light to prepare for the rescue mission.

In synchronized raids at approximately 11 a.m. local time on Saturday. The IDF stormed two buildings located just a half a mile apart. While Argamani’s rescue at one building was described as relatively smooth, a fierce battle erupted at the second building, as terrorists opened fire on Zamora’s assault team attempting to reach the three other hostages.

Additional ground forces and airstrikes were required to extract the injured troops and secure a landing zone for emergency medical evacuation flights to Israel’s Sheba Medical Center.

After eight months in captivity facing torture and execution at the hands of their barbaric Hamas captors, all four hostages were reportedly in relatively good medical condition upon arriving for evaluation.

While thankfully their traumatic ordeal in Gaza has come to an end, 116 hostages still remain in Gaza, not all of them alive with the IDF confirming the deaths of 41.