In a dramatic nighttime operation, Israeli forces successfully conducted a special operation in Rafah, rescuing two elderly hostages, Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70. The operation, significant for its precision and timing, took place despite warnings from President Biden against pressing into Rafah without a credible plan for civilians. The IDF reported 77 militants killed in the action. The only IDF casualty was a light injury to a soldier’s hand.

This rescue underscores the ongoing Israeli efforts to secure the release of individuals taken during Hamas’s October 7 attack. It underscores the argument of PM Benjamin Netanyahu that only military pressure and actions can rescue the captives. It underscores the hollowness of the warnings that Israeli forces should not dare complete their mission and destroy the remaining Hamas forces in Khan Yunis and Rafah.

Netanyahu and Biden spoke earlier in the day for some 45 minutes, reported for the doddering US office holder to read the riot act to the Israeli PM, demanding that he not move on Rafah till a credible plan for moving the Gazan population from that area had been submitted and approved by the Americans. Israeli ignored the threat and in a massive show of force and precision intelligence, rescued its people, in captivity for more than four months.