New details are emerging regarding the rescue of an Israeli hostage from Gaza earlier this week.

According to Kan News, Qaid al-Qadi was kept underground with another hostage in Hamas’ vast network of terror tunnels right after October 7. However, for the past eight months, he was being guarded alone after the unnamed hostage was brutally executed by his captors. Approximately 2 weeks ago, al-Qadi was left to die after Hamas abandoned the tunnel and booby-trapped it with explosives.

Acting on a tip from locals in the Khan Younis area on Tuesday, the IDF’s elite Shayetet 13 unit found the location of the tunnel. As soldiers approached, they called on al-Qadi to raise his hands and state his identity. He responded by claiming to be Israeli, which led military personnel to provide him with instructions for safely exiting the rigged passageway. As he made his way out, the 52-year-old appeared weak and malnourished.

“He spoke about the darkness, not being able to see. But, thank God, he’s back with us, alive,” al-Qadi’s cousin Fayez al-Sana said after visiting him in the hospital.

“He is on his feet and talking about the matter. He was constantly thinking about the family and never stopped believing that he would get out of there. We don’t know how he survived, but he survived and he’s alive, and that’s the most important thing.”

al-Qadi is the first Israeli Arab and eighth hostage overall to be rescued alive from Gaza by IDF forces. It is believed that there are still 108 hostages remaining in Gaza, with about 30 of them reported to be dead.