According to Ata Abu Madighem, the former mayor of Rahat where freed hostage Qaid Farhan al-Qadi is from, Qaid told him that he was held in captivity with a Jewish hostage who became his friend, and who died in captivity.
“Farhan told about a friend of his who was in captivity with him, a Jew who after two months, I think in December 2023, died next to him. It broke his heart,” he told Kan News.
Madighem also spoke about the cruel conditions Qaid was held in, saying: “He told me about the difficult life he went through, a cruel and difficult captivity, he hardly saw the sun for close to ten months, he hardly saw the light. He talks about a very cruel captivity, he was treated as a pure Israeli, not as a Bedouin or an Arab.”
Many details about the hostage rescue have not been released, with the IDF saying it was a ‘complex mission.’ Controversial Transportation Minister Miri Regev caused outrage by saying the rescue was carried out in Rafah, before the IDF released such information to the public. We know this was the first successful hostage rescue from a tunnel.
According to Doron Kadosh, a military correspondent for Galei Tzahal, Qaid managed to escape the terrorists guarding him and make his way on his own towards Israeli troops who were operating underground, who were not conducting a planned mission to rescue him. The IDF forces then found and rescued him. It is unclear if the terrorists guarding Qaid were killed, fled on their own, or otherwise incapacitated.
Other reports suggest the IDF special forces units and intelligence officers were operating in the area for a significant period of time, working with the suspicion that hostages and weapons were being held there, guarded by terrorists.
{Matzav.com}
