[News] Killing the Captives - What Happened in Israel’s Failed Rescue Attempt in Gaza

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Killing the Captives - What Happened in Israel’s Failed Rescue Attempt in
GazaDecember 9, 2023
------------------------------
Al-Qassam said it seized a rifle and communication devices from one of the
attacking soldiers. (Photo: video grab)

*By Palestine Chronicle Editors
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/palestine-chronicle-editors>*

*Instead of rescuing Saar Baruch, an Israeli military force killed him.
This episode is likely to make Netanyahu’s life even more difficult. *

In the early hours of Friday, Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the
Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas, declared that it had thwarted an
Israeli military operation aimed at releasing an Israeli prisoner held by
the Resistance in Gaza.

Al-Qassam’s claim was fortified by details about the failed mission, along
with the name of the Israeli soldier who was being ‘rescued’.

“A special Zionist force was discovered during its attempt to advance to
free one of the enemy’s prisoners, resulting in a clash that led to the
death and injury of members of the (Israeli) force. The military aviation
(air force) intervened and bombed the area with a series of raids to cover
their retreat,” Al-Qassam’s statement read.
*Saar Baruch*

The clashes, according to Al-Qassam, resulted in the killing of an Israeli
soldier, named Saar Baruch, a 25-year-old trooper with an ID card numbered
207775032.

Al-Qassam also claimed to have seized a rifle from one of the attacking
soldiers along with other communication devices.

Aside from the early morning statement, very little was added to the story
– no video footage, pictures or any other details.

Hours later, the Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said that two
Israeli soldiers were seriously wounded during a rescue mission. Although
he did not mention that the rescue mission was a failure, it was clear that
it was not a success.

The initial Hamas statements said that several attackers were killed and
wounded, but did not verify the fate of the body of Baruch himself.
*Disaster *

For over two months, Netanyahu’s War Council has insisted that Israel will
release all hostages and prisoners by force.

On the other hand, the Palestinian Resistance insisted that not a single
captive will be released through combat but only through mediated
agreements that would also ensure the release of all Palestinian prisoners
and other civilians held in Israel.

Starting on November 24, Israeli civilian captives were released in small
groups, in exchange for allowing humanitarian aid to reach Gaza, along with
the release of many Palestinian women and children detained in Israeli
prisons.

That was part of a ceasefire that only lasted for seven days, but abruptly
ended when Israel decided to return to the battlefield.

But the Israeli return to war was far from being a success. Palestinian
Resistance groups, throughout the Gaza Strip, provided documented evidence
of scores of Israeli tanks and other military vehicles being blown up by
young Gazans armed with mostly home-made weapons.

Not even Israel’s daring attempt to invade the southern Gaza city of Khan
Yunis made much difference.

For whatever reason, Israel has decided that it was Khan Yunis, after all,
not the Al-Shifa Hospital that Hamas was using as its headquarters.

Little did Israel know that Hamas would be utilizing its Nukhba forces,
Al-Qassam strongest commandos units to defend the city.

The battle of Khan Yunis forced Israel to revisit earlier claims that it
will be able to fight in Gaza for months, if not years. The latest claim,
as of Friday, December 8, is that Israel would require three to four weeks
to subdue the city.
*Embarrassing Episode*

That subduing is unlikely to take place, and today’s botched rescue mission
is proof that the Israeli war on Gaza no longer carries any serious value,
neither tactical nor strategic.

Soon after Hagari declared that two Israeli soldiers were seriously
wounded, Al-Qassam immediately released a video, showing a very bloody
scene.

The video starts with Baruch identifying himself, asking to go home, yet
ended with his blood-drenched body on the ground, with at least one bullet
hole in his chest.

This is how Al-Qassam’s Military Media described the events that led to
Baruch’s killing at the hands of his Israeli rescuers:

“At precisely 2:30 am, a Zionist force infiltrated the location where the
captive was held using an ambulance, and disguising behind humanitarian
organizations, in a blatant violation of international law. The force was
discovered and engaged with gunfire.”

The reference to an ‘ambulance’ and a ‘humanitarian organization’ was
explained by a military analyst to Al-Jazeera as an Israeli attempt to
disguise its soldiers as humanitarian workers with an international medical
organization.

The repercussions of this will prove more than embarrassing for Benjamin
Netanyahu’s government who had repeatedly vowed to the Israeli families of
captives that he had a plan that would ensure the destruction of Hamas and
the freeing of the captives, at the same time.

But the failed operation, which instead of rescuing Baruch killed him,
along with others, will complicate the political scene for Netanyahu, who
is yet to deliver a single real achievement in Gaza since October 7.

*(The Palestine Chronicle)*
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