Israel celebrated with songs and fireworks following the rescue of an IDF soldier kidnapped during a Hamas terrorist attack on October 7 during its latest advance in northern Gaza.
Pvt. Ori Megidish was seen hugging his tearful grandmother after she was returned to her family on Monday with loved ones and security forces cheering and blowing kazoos to celebrate her rescue.
The celebration took place around the Megidish neighborhood in the southern city of Kiryat Gat, with revelers setting off fireworks in the streets, the Jerusalem Post reported.
“It was like another birth,” Israeli media quoted neighbor Itamar Trobek as saying. “We are very happy. We see the family, they are not the same as yesterday. We pray a lot.”
The IDF identified Megidish as one of several soldiers taken hostage on October 7 after Hamas attacked its base in Nahal Oz.
Pvt. Uri Megidish (center) has returned to his homeland in Israel after being rescued from Gaza on Monday. AP Megidish is seen hugging his grandmother during a party for saving him. Israel/Twitter
The army and the Shin Bet – Israel’s internal security service – said Megidish was in good condition after a medical examination.
“Welcome home, Uri,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement about X. “I congratulate the Shin Bet and the IDF on this important and exciting achievement, an achievement that expresses our commitment to the release of all abducted victims.”
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“The entire nation of Israel salutes the Shin Bet and salutes the IDF. And to the terrorists of Hamas and ISIS I say – you are monsters,” he added. “We will continue to chase you, we will continue to hunt you. We will paralyze you until you fall at our feet.”
Megidish’s aunt sobbed at the return of her neighbor. N 12 Family and friends celebrate while waving the Israeli flag. Reuters
The successful rescue came as Netanyahu defended Israel’s ongoing ground invasion of Gaza ahead of an expected all-out assault, repeating his government’s claim that “military pressure” remains the best course of action to save the estimated 239 hostages taken by Hamas.
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“Ground action actually creates the possibility, not the certainty, but the possibility of taking out our hostages because Hamas will not do it unless they are under pressure,” Netanyahu said during a press conference Monday. “This creates pressure.”
Megidish was one of the IDF fighters kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 when its base was stormed by terrorists. x/IDF
Although Hamas has claimed that it will release the hostages if Israel agrees to a cease-fire, the Israeli prime minister has rejected that option, stating that it is “not going to happen.”
“The call for a ceasefire is a call for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism, to surrender to barbarism,” he said.
The United Nations is now trying to negotiate a pause in the bloodshed that has left more than 1,400 people dead in Israel and reportedly more than 8,000 in Gaza.
Despite Netanyahu’s refusal, Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer suggested the Jewish State is open to a temporary ceasefire agreement in exchange for hostages in Gaza.
A jubilant crowd in the southern Israeli city of Kiryat Gat cheered at news of the soldier’s rescue. Reuters
“We will do what we can so that they arrive safely, but this will be a temporary reprieve to transport them safely,” Dermer told reporters Monday.
The hostage situation in Gaza remains at the forefront of Israel’s war on Gaza, with Hamas only freeing four hostages since the start of the conflict.
On Monday, the terrorist organization released a propaganda video of three kidnapped Israeli women appearing to berate Netanyahu and accuse him of wanting to kill hostages amid ongoing airstrikes in Gaza.
Israel’s prime minister condemned the video as “brutal psychological propaganda by Hamas-ISIS.”
Hamas claimed that the video was so discrediting to Netanyahu that Israel tried to divert attention from it by announcing the rescue of Megidish.
The Israeli government also recently confirmed that Shani Nicole Louk, a German-Israeli tattoo artist who was filmed being paraded through the streets of Gaza, was beheaded after her skull was found.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
