Muhamad Yehia

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli forces rescued a hostage found alone underground in Gaza on Tuesday, freeing a living captive from Hamas’ vast tunnel network for the first time since the Oct. 7 attack that ignited the war.

The 52-year-old Israeli man was taken to a hospital in Israel, where members of his large Bedouin Arab family gathered around his bedside in a joyful reunion.

The rescue brought a rare moment of relief to Israelis after 10 months of war but also served as a painful reminder that dozens of hostages are still in captivity as international mediators try to broker a cease-fire in which they would be released.

Qaid Farhan Alkadi was found in a southern Gaza tunnel where hostages were suspected to be alongside militants and explosives, according to the military.

“Suddenly, I heard someone speaking Hebrew outside the door, I couldn’t believe it, I couldn’t believe it,” Alkadi told Israeli President Isaac Herzog in a phone call from his hospital bed, according to the president’s office

The military said it applied “lessons” learned during previous operations while rescuing Alkadi. Earlier in the war, Israeli troops who encountered three hostages inside Gaza accidentally shot and killed them, believing them to be militants

Alkadi was one of eight members of Israel’s Bedouin Arab minority who were abducted on Oct. 7. He was working as a guard at a packing factory in Kibbutz Magen, one of several farming communities that came under attack. He has two wives and is the father of 11 children

Israel believes there are still 108 hostages in Gaza and that more than 40 of them are dead. Most of the rest were freed during a weeklong cease-fire in November in exchange for the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Alkadi is one of eight hostages to be rescued alive and the first of these rescued from underground, the Israeli military said. Alkadi was held in a number of locations during his 326 days in captivity, according to Israel’s military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari

Footage released by the Israeli military showed Alkadi moments after the rescue. Unshaven and wearing a white tank top, he is seen sitting and smiling with soldiers before boarding a helicopter to a hospital. He appeared emaciated but officials described his condition as stable.

His large family gathered at the hospital in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba to welcome him home.

One of his brothers held Alkadi’s infant son, who was born while he was in captivity and had not yet met his father, the brother said.

“We’re so excited to hug him and see him and tell him that we’re all here with him,” a family member who gave his name as Faez told Channel 12. “I hope that every hostage will come home so the families can experience this happiness.”

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the rescue was part of the army’s “daring and courageous activities conducted deep inside the Gaza Strip.”

President Herzog, in his phone call with Alkadi, told him: “Dear Farhan, how moving it is to hear your voice! Our brother has come home. Our brother has returned!

Herzog’s office said Farhan expressed his gratitude and urged Israeli authorities to work to free the others. “People are suffering there. Do everything you can to bring people home. Work 24 hours, don’t sleep until they return. People are really suffering, you can’t imagine,” he said, according to a transcript of the call provide by Herzog’s office.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also spoke with Alkadi by phone soon after he arrived at the hospital. He said that Israel would rely on rescue operations and negotiations to bring the remaining hostages home.

“Both ways together require our military presence in the field, and unceasing military pressure on Hamas,” Netanyahu said.

Referring to Netanyahu by a traditional Arabic nickname, Alkadi thanked the prime minister for enabling him to see his family again, according to a video of the call provided by Netanyahu’s office.

Alkadi reminded Netanyahu that “there are others waiting.” To which Netanyahu replied, “we haven’t forgotten anyone, just as we haven’t forgotten you.

The Israeli military released footage of Alkadi being transported by helicopter after his rescue. Smiling, he gave a salute as the helicopter was in flight.

Hamas-led militants abducted some 250 people in the Oct. 7 attack, in which some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 40,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who do not say how many were militants. It has displaced 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people from their homes and caused heavy destruction across the besieged territory.

Israeli airstrikes continued on Tuesday across the Gaza Strip, and Palestinian officials said at least 18 people, including eight children, were killed in the attacks

Two previous Israeli operations to free hostages killed scores of Palestinians. Hamas says several hostages have been killed in Israeli airstrikes and failed rescue attempts. Israeli troops mistakenly killed three Israelis who escaped captivity in December.

Mazen Abu Siam, a close family friend waiting at the hospital, said the family was overjoyed to hear the news, but they were still praying for a cease-fire.

The United States, Egypt and Qatar have spent months trying to negotiate an agreement in which the remaining hostages would be freed in exchange for a lasting cease-fire. Those talks are ongoing, but there has been no sign of any breakthrough.

Netanyahu has faced intense criticism from families of the hostages and much of the Israeli public for not yet reaching a deal with Hamas to bring them home.

Hamas hopes to trade the hostages for a lasting cease-fire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners, including high-profile militants.

Last week, after the Israeli military recovered the bodies of six hostages in southern Gaza, Israel’s military spokesperson, Hagari, said the army was working to gather more intelligence for rescue operations. But he added that “we cannot bring everyone back through rescue operations alone.”