Israeli rescue operations are ‘not efficient’
The captive was rescued from a tunnel in Rafah, which is kind of unusual because Rafah is nearer to the Egyptian side. This operation was going to be politically sensitive because the [ceasefire] negotiations are currently under way in Cairo.
We don’t know many of the details of what this operation has actually meant. I think we are going to see that there would have been Palestinians killed, as we’ve seen this in other operations that took place.
There are 108 Israelis still in captivity in Gaza. Now, that’s of the initial 251 who were captured on October 7. Thirty-six of them are already believed to be dead, according to the Israeli army.
So they know that this is going to be a very difficult operation to try to get these people back alive. It is Israeli targeting that has killed most of those captives. Israelis have also died in those operations. They’re not efficient operations to get people out. The Hostage Families Forum, the umbrella organization that actually looks after the families and advocates for them, says a ceasefire is the only way forward, and that ceasefire isn’t happening.
‘Small-scale success’ of rescue operation underscores Israeli military’s failure
Mohamad Elmasry, a professor in the media studies programme at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, says the rescue of an Israeli captive in southern Gaza may embolden Netanyahu to pursue more military operations to appease far-right ministers in his coalition.
He told Al Jazeera that the rescue would not placate the families of the captives, pointing to a statement “suggesting that they are still adamant that Netanyahu pursue a ceasefire”.
He said the rescue could be considered a “small-scale” success for Israel but it also underscores the extent of the Israeli military’s failure because it has killed far more of the captives than it has been able to rescue through these operations.
“We also have to remember that Netanyahu has consistently shunned a possible ceasefire or temporary truce even though that has proven far more successful for Israel,” he said, noting, “They got back about 100 captives back in November” through diplomacy.
‘We won’t return 108 captives in special operations’: Lapid
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has congratulated military forces on a “complex and successful operation” to return captive al-Qadi from the Gaza Strip but says military operations are not a solution.
“We won’t be able to return 108 abductees in special operations. They don’t have time,” he wrote in a post on X. “We must make a deal and return them home, now.”
About 70 captives in the besieged enclave are still believed to be alive.
