Israeli forces rescue hostage from underground tunnel in Gaza

The Israeli military announced on Tuesday that its forces had rescued an Israeli hostage from an underground tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip when combing the area.

Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, was found alone in a tunnel, without any guards or other hostages, said the military in a statement. Being held by Hamas militants since October 7, 2023, Alkadi is the eighth hostage freed through a military operation and the first Israeli Arab hostage to be rescued alive. He is also the first hostage rescued from the underground.

The military added that Alkadi came from Karkur, a Bedouin village south of Rahat city in southern Israel, and was kidnapped from his workplace, a packing house in Magen, during Hamas' attack on the kibbutz.

According to state-owned Kan TV news, Alkadi heard the soldiers and shouted for help, then his guards fled the area. The man told his relatives that he survived mainly on small amounts of bread. His family reported that Alkadi lost approximately 20 kilograms during his captivity.

In a press briefing, Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Daniel Hagari described the rescue as "a complex mission," saying that "commandos rescued Alkadi from an underground tunnel upon accurate intelligence."

In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized the government's commitment to bringing all hostages home. "We are doing this in two main ways: negotiations and rescue operations," Netanyahu said. He also underscored the necessity of maintaining Israel's military presence in Gaza.

An Israeli delegation is set to depart on Wednesday to continue indirect talks in Doha over a potential deal that includes a ceasefire and the exchange of hostages and prisoners between the two warring sides, according to Xinhua, citing a government official.

Meanwhile, at least six Palestinians were killed and seven others wounded in an Israeli airstrike on the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Civil Defense said on Tuesday.

"Our crews recovered six dead bodies and found seven injured in a house targeted by Israeli warplanes west of Khan Younis," the Civil Defense said in a press statement.

In a separate statement, the Civil Defense accused the Israeli forces of violently displacing and expelling civilians in residential areas, which has resulted in "the killing and injuries of hundreds of unarmed citizens."

The Israeli army has not commented on this incident yet.

The ongoing Israeli attacks have so far claimed more than 40,400 lives in Gaza, according to local health authorities.

Despite Gaza's deadly violence and several recent Israeli evacuation orders further disrupting aid operations, Gilles Michaud, the undersecretary-general for safety and security, said on Tuesday that relief deliveries are continuing.

"The United Nations is determined to stay in Gaza to deliver life-saving aid for and with Palestinian civilians," said the UN official. "Humanitarian aid delivery continues, a tremendous feat given that we are operating at the upper-most peripheries of tolerable risk."

Michaud said that humanitarians have been in the crosshairs throughout the crisis, "by far the deadliest on record for the UN."

He called the several recent mass evacuation orders the latest in a long list of unbearable threats to the UN and humanitarian personnel.

"Like most Palestinians in Gaza, we are running out of safe spaces for our own staff," Michaud said. "The timing could hardly be worse, with the start of a massive polio vaccination campaign scheduled for next week, for which large numbers of staff will need to enter the (Gaza) Strip."

He said the Israeli Defense Forces' series of evacuation orders this past weekend compound existing security threats and seriously impact the pace of safe aid deliveries.

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the World Food Programme (WFP) staff had to relocate to other UN premises, leaving behind their offices and guest houses in Deir al Balah. Despite these challenges, the agency continues to deliver food assistance.

"In addition to the loss of warehouses and other humanitarian premises due to evacuation orders, it remains difficult to move around the south of the Gaza Strip due to the severe overcrowding and continuous displacement," OCHA said.

The office said access of UN humanitarian partners to northern Gaza is particularly challenging as it requires coordination with the Israeli authorities and passage through an internal checkpoint.

OCHA said plans to fuel hospitals in the north of Gaza have now resulted in access being denied five times in the past week, leaving some hospitals without new provisions for fuel for over 10 days. The dependency on fuel to run backup generators is complete, as the Israeli authorities cut electricity provision from the Gaza Strip back in October.

(With input from agencies)