ISRAELI forces rescued two hostages being kept by Hamas in the Gazan city of Rafah during a daring overnight raid.
The IDF revealed on Sunday that Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Norberto Louis Har, 70, were brought safely home after more than four months in the terror group’s captivity.
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The pair were rescued from Rafah where they were reportedly being kept in an apartment guarded by Hamas gunmen.
Israeli troops broke into the flat just before 2am local time on Monday as airstrikes pummelled the surrounding areas.
IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari claimed that the rescue team shielded Marman and Har with their own bodies during the intense fighting.
The men, who were held for 128 days, were then taken to shelter where they were checked by doctors and airlifted to a hospital in Israel.
Hagari said troops carried out the “complex rescue operation” under the cover of night after waiting for the right conditions.
He added: “The troops pulled Louis and Fernando out of the apartment and rescued them under fire, until they reached the safe zone.
“It was a very tense and very touching night. Such an operation was made possible thanks to the great sacrifice of the standing army and reserve troops who fell and were injured in the battles.
“Without their sacrifice, we would not have reached this moment.”
Both men were reported to be in good medical condition.
The Israeli operation in Rafah has been met with widespread international criticism as most of the Gaza Strip has now been obliterated as a result of the gruelling war.
And almost 1.5 million Palestinian civilians have fled there since the start of the Israel Hamas war to escape the bloodshed.
But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to crush the “last bastion” of Hamas which he says is hiding in the southern Gazan enclave.
Dozens of them, including children, have already been killed as a result of Israeli strikes on the city.
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