Rescue of Qaid Farhan Al-Qadi

Last updated

Contents

Qaid Farhan al-Qadi (Arabic : قائد فرحان القاضي; Hebrew : קאיד פרחאן אל-קאדי; born c. 1972), [1] an Israeli-Bedouin held hostage by Hamas since the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, was rescued on August 27, 2024, after 326 days in captivity. Al-Qadi is from the Al-Kasum Regional Council, near the city of Rahat in the Negev. He was one of 251 people kidnapped from Israel, six of whom were Bedouin. [2] The rescue operation was conducted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Shin Bet in southern Gaza. [3] [4]

Al-Qadi is the eighth hostage to be rescued by Israeli forces since the conflict began. [4] [a] The news of his release was celebrated within Israel's Bedouin community, which lost 16 members during the October 7 attacks, [3] [5] although the mood in Al-Qadi's village was complicated by pending demolition orders. [6]

Abduction

Al-Qadi is a father of 11 children and has two wives. [7] [8] [9] On October 7, 2023, during the Hamas attack on Israel, al-Qadi was abducted while working as a guard at a packing house in Kibbutz Magen. Until his rescue, Israel had not received any information regarding his whereabouts and welfare. [7] [8] [9]

Al-Qadi initially was held in an apartment where he witnessed and was filmed with a fellow captive's death. [10] He formed a bond with Aryeh Zalmanovich, another Israeli hostage who was later killed. [10] After being moved to a tunnel, Al-Qadi faced severe deprivation, including only being allowed to shower once a month and being kept in total darkness, which made it impossible for him to distinguish day from night. [10] [11] He also underwent painful surgery without proper anaesthesia. [10] Two weeks before his rescue, his captors fled after hearing IDF drills, leaving him in an underground room with minimal food and rigged explosives to prevent escape. [11]

Rescue

Al-Qadi with Tat Aluf (Brigadier general) Itzik Cohen, commander of the 162nd division, shortly after the rescue operation Rescue-of-Farhan-Qadi-0001.jpg
Al-Qadi with Tat Aluf (Brigadier general) Itzik Cohen, commander of the 162nd division, shortly after the rescue operation

It was initially announced on August 27, 2024 that Farhan al-Qadi was rescued from Gaza in a joint operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Shin Bet in southern Gaza. [3] [4] However it was later revealed that al-Qadi's captors took pity on him and abandoned him in one of the tunnels used by Hamas. The Israeli forces who found him were not there in a rescue operation. [12] The soldiers found him in disbelief upon hearing Hebrew, and he identified himself to them. [11]

Al-Qadi is the eighth hostage to be rescued by Israeli forces since the conflict began, and the first to be rescued from a tunnel. [a] [13] The operation was part of Israel's broader military campaign in Gaza aimed at dismantling Hamas, following the October 7 attack that killed approximately 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and resulted in the kidnapping of 251 others. [4]

Al-Qadi's family was joyfully reunited with him at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba. [4] The news of his release was received with great joy within the Israel's Bedouin community, which lost 16 members on the Hamas attack on Israel. Some were killed by rockets fired from Gaza, and others by Hamas Nukhba fighters who murdered them despite the fact that they were Arabic-speaking Muslims. [3]

The day after his rescue, Al-Qadi was released from the hospital to his home in the village of Khirbet Karkur, which is among the Bedouin villages in Israel that is unrecognized. Celebration in the village of Al-Qadi's rescue was tainted by a pending demolition order of 70% of the homes in the village, as the homes were built without permits. A spokesperson for the Israel Land Authority stated that in light of his status as a former hostage, they would not serve a demolition notice on his home. [6]

Al-Qadi was the third and final of six Israeli Bedouins who were kidnapped to Gaza during Hamas' October 7 massacre to have returned from captivity alive. The other two, 17-year-old Aisha and 18-year-old Bilal al-Zayadna, were released in November 2023 during the 2023 Israeli–Palestinian prisoner exchange. The bodies of the latter's father, Yousef, and elder brother, Hamza, were recovered from a tunnel in January 2025; Al-Qadi eulogized Yousef, who had been his neighbour and childhood friend. The sixth Bedouin, Samer al-Talalka, had been shot dead by IDF troops after escaping his captors along with another two hostages in December 2023. [14] [15]

Notes

  1. 1 2 The first was the rescue of Ori Megidish in October 2023, two additional hostages were rescued in February 2024 in Operation Golden Hand, and four additional hostages were rescued in June 2024 in Operation Arnon

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Givati Brigade</span> Israeli military infantry brigade

The 84th "Givati" Brigade is an Israel Defense Forces infantry brigade formed in 1947.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sayeret Matkal</span> Israeli special forces unit

Sayeret Matkal, is the special reconnaissance unit (sayeret) of Israel's General Staff (matkal). It is considered one of the premier special forces units of Israel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yamam</span> Israeli police counterterrorism unit

Yamam, also known as National Counter-Terrorism Unit, is Israel's national counter-terrorism unit, one of four special units of the Israel Border Police. The Yamam is capable of both hostage-rescue operations and offensive take-over raids against terrorist targets in civilian areas. Besides military and counter-terrorism duties, it also performs tactical unit duties and undercover police work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilad Shalit</span> Israeli soldier (born 1986)

Gilad Shalit is a former MIA soldier of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) who, on 25 June 2006, was captured by Palestinian militants in a cross-border raid via tunnels near the Israeli border. Hamas held him captive for over five years until his release on 18 October 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange deal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shayetet 13</span> Special operations unit of the Israeli Navy

Shayetet 13 is a naval commando unit of the Israeli Navy and one of the primary reconnaissance units of the Israel Defense Forces. Shayetet 13 specializes in sea-to-land incursions, counter-terrorism, sabotage, maritime intelligence gathering, maritime hostage rescue, and boarding. The unit is trained for sea, air and land actions. The unit has taken part in almost all of Israel's major wars, as well as other actions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaldag Unit</span> Military unit

Unit 5101, more commonly known as Shaldag, is one of the premier Israeli Air Force (IAF) Sayeret units. The unit is part of the 7th Special Air Forces Wing and is based in the Palmachim Airbase. The unit is led by an officer at the rank of lieutenant colonel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hannibal Directive</span> Controversial Israeli military protocol

The Hannibal Directive, also translated as Hannibal Procedure or Hannibal Protocol, is the name of a controversial procedure used by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to prevent the capture of Israeli soldiers by enemy forces. According to one version, it says that "the kidnapping must be stopped by all means, even at the price of striking and harming our own forces." It was introduced in 1986, after a number of abductions of IDF soldiers in Lebanon and subsequent controversial prisoner exchanges. The full text of the directive was never published, and until 2003, Israeli military censorship forbade any discussion of the subject in the press. The directive has been changed several times, and in 2016 Gadi Eizenkot ordered the formal revocation of the standing directive and the reformulation of the protocol.

The 2004 IDF outpost bombing attack was an integrated attack carried out on 12 December 2004 by a Palestinian militant squad of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam military wing of Hamas and the Fatah Hawks at an Israel Defense Forces outpost located on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yaron Finkelman</span> Israeli brigadier general (b. 1975)

Yaron Finkelman is an Israeli major general who commands the Southern Command of the Israel Defense Forces. Previously, he served as the head of the Operations Division at the Operations Directorate, Commander of the Fire Formation, Commander of the Givati Brigade, Commander of the Northern Brigade in the Gaza Strip, Commander of the Half Fire Formation, and Commander of the Paratroopers Reconnaissance Battalion.

The year 2023 in Israel was defined first by wide-scale protests against a proposed judicial reform, and then by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, which led to a war and to Israel invading the Gaza Strip.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaza war hostage crisis</span> Hostages taken into Gaza, 2023–present

On 7 October 2023, as part of the Hamas-led attack on Israel at the beginning of the Gaza war, Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups abducted 251 people from Israel to the Gaza Strip, including children, women, and elderly people. Almost half of the hostages are foreign nationals or have multiple citizenships, and some hostages were Negev Bedouins. The captives are likely being held in different locations in the Gaza Strip. Of all the hostages presumed alive in October 2024, 53 were civilians and 11 were military personnel according to AFP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip</span> Israeli military operation since 2023

The Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip is a major part of the Gaza war. Starting on 7 October 2023, immediately after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel, it began bombing the Gaza Strip; on 13 October, Israel began ground operations in Gaza, and on 27 October, a full-scale invasion was launched. Israel's campaign has four stated goals: to destroy Hamas, to free the hostages, to ensure Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel, and to return displaced residents of Northern Israel. More than a year after the invasion, fighting in the Gaza Strip halted with the implementation of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on 19 January 2025.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kidnapping of the Bibas family</span> Kidnapped Israeli family in 2023 Israel-Hamas war

On 7 October 2023, as part of the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel and the Nir Oz attack, the Palestinian Islamist militant organization Hamas abducted the Israeli-Argentinian/Peruvian Bibas family from the Nir Oz kibbutz: 9-month-old Kfir, 4-year-old Ariel, 32-year-old mother Shiri, and her 34-year-old husband Yarden. The youngest child, baby Kfir, was the youngest hostage taken in the 7 October 2023 attacks. Shiri's parents, who also lived on the kibbutz, were later found murdered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killing of Alon Shamriz, Yotam Haim, and Samer Talalka</span> 2023 killings of hostages by the Israeli military

On 15 December 2023, three Israeli hostages were killed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during the Battle of Shuja'iyya in the Gaza Strip. The men had emerged from a building and were approaching a group of IDF soldiers when they were shot dead, in spite of the fact that they were shirtless and visibly unarmed while waving a makeshift white flag and calling out for help in Hebrew. The incident provoked widespread domestic and international criticism of the IDF and of the Israeli government's attempts to resolve the hostage crisis through war. It also led to increased condemnation from abroad of the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. The IDF acknowledged that the three hostages, who were kidnapped by Hamas during the 7 October attacks, had been killed after they were "mistakenly identified as a threat," prompting renewed protests in Israel against the incumbent Netanyahu-led government.

Events in the year 2024 in Palestine.

In specific cases there were incidents of friendly fire in the Gaza war. The vast majority of casualties in the conflict were killed by the opposing side, i.e. Israelis killed by Palestinian militants and Palestinians killed by the Israeli military. According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), as of May 2024, 49 of the 278 Israeli soldiers killed during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip were killed by friendly fire and in other accidents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rescue of Ori Megidish</span> Hostage rescue during Israel-Hamas war

The rescue of Ori Megidish was an Israel Defense Forces military operation on 30 October 2023 during the Israel–Hamas war in Gaza that led to the rescue of Israeli soldier Uri Magidish from Hamas imprisonment in Gaza to Israel. Megidish was rescued in a joint operation between the IDF and the Israeli Shin Bet, based on specific intelligence of her whereabouts. Two Hamas militants were killed during the operation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuseirat rescue and massacre</span> 2024 Israeli operation and mass killings

On 8 June 2024, during an operation to rescue hostages held in the Nuseirat refugee camp, the Israeli military killed at least 276 people and injured over 698, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and Palestinian health officials. The operation's objective was to recover hostages taken during the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel. The Israeli military acknowledged fewer than 100 Palestinian deaths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">7th Wing (Israel)</span> Military unit

The 7th Wing is the special air forces wing of the Israeli Air Force. It is composed of three combat units Unit 669, Shaldag Unit, and Unit 5700. The wing's headquarters is based at the Palmachim Airbase.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fawzia Amin Sido</span> Iraqi Yazidi kidnapping victim of ISIS

Fawzia Amin Sido is a Kurdish Yazidi woman from northern Iraq. She was captured by the Islamic State as a 10-year-old child, during the Yazidi genocide in 2014. She was forced into a physically and sexually abusive marriage with a Palestinian militant in Syria, birthing two children before the age of 15. Her husband was killed and she was smuggled to the Gaza Strip in 2020, remaining in captivity by his family and Hamas. During the Gaza war in 2023, an IDF airstrike destroyed the family home, and she fled alone to a shelter further in the Gaza Strip. The IDF said that the airstrike killed her captors. Sido leaving Gaza was complicated by the tensions between Iraq and Israel. However, she was allowed to enter Israel, where American officials escorted her to Jordan, and then reunited with her family in Sinjar, Iraq. Media reports indicate that her rescue was a collaboration between the United States, Israeli, Iraqi, and Jordanian governments.

References

  1. ↑ Nierenberg, Amelia (August 27, 2024). "Who Is Farhan al-Qadi, the Rescued Hostage?". New York Times.
  2. ↑ "החטוף קאיד פרחאן אלקאדי חולץ בחיים משבי חמאס בעזה". www.israelhayom.co.il. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Fabian, Emanuel (2024-08-27). "Hostage Qaid Farhan al-Qadi, 52, rescued by IDF from tunnel in Gaza". Times of Israel.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Israeli forces rescue Bedouin hostage held by Hamas in Gaza". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
  5. ↑ "Who Is Farhan al-Qadi, the Rescued Hostage?". New York Times.
  6. 1 2 Lidman, Melanie (August 29, 2024). "An Israeli freed from Gaza returns to a village where 70% of homes are targeted for demolition". Associated Press.
  7. 1 2 שרון, יניב (2024-07-18). "משפחות חטופים יהודיות וערביות נפגשו ברהט: "החטופים הם הבנים והבנות של כולנו"". דבר העובדים בארץ ישראל (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2024-08-27.
  8. 1 2 Michaelis, Tamar (2024-08-27). "Israel has rescued hostage after 10 months of captivity by Hamas in Gaza, military says". CNN. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
  9. 1 2 זיתון, יואב (2024-08-27). "החטוף פרחאן אלקאדי חולץ בחיים מדרום הרצועה". Ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2024-08-27.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Ciechanover, Yael (2024-08-29). "Farhan Alkadi was with Aryeh Zalmanovich in Hamas captivity, family confirms". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  11. 1 2 3 "Rescued hostage said kept in total darkness during captivity, showered once a month". Times of Israel. 2024-08-29.
  12. ↑ https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/s1ia22gtr
  13. ↑ "Israel says it rescued a hostage found alone in an underground tunnel in Gaza". Associated Press. August 27, 2024.
  14. ↑ Gritten, David. "Israel rescues Bedouin hostage held by Hamas in Gaza". BBC . Retrieved 2024-08-28.
  15. ↑ Rescued Bedouin hostage eulogizes childhood friend Youssef Ziyadne
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.