![The demonstrators, carrying banners and posters criticizing the government, demand a ceasefire in Gaza and a swap deal for the hostages held in Gaza in front of the Defense Ministry building in Tel Aviv, Israel on November 02, 2024. [Mostafa Alkharouf - Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/AA-20241102-36089372-36089370-FAMILIES_OF_HOSTAGES_IN_GAZA_DEMAND_PRISONER_SWAP_IN_TEL_AVIV-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Israel’s Channel 12 TV has revealed that the occupation army attempted to rescue a hostage from the Gaza Strip a year ago after obtaining intelligence of the prisoner’s whereabouts, the Palestinian Information Centre has reported. However, the operation ended with the death of prisoner Saher Barukh, even though the soldiers in the army’s special forces unit involved believed that they were embarking on a mission to free Noa Argamani.
Special forces stormed a building in Gaza and were met with heavy gunfire, which turned the rescue attempt into a casualty evacuation, during which two soldiers were seriously injured. The Israeli channel confirmed that, even today, it is unknown whether the captive was killed by gunfire from the army or the resistance fighters.
In recent months, dozens of Israeli captives have been killed in the Gaza Strip due to bombardments or other Israeli operations within the enclave. Some have been killed during failed attempts to free them.
At the beginning of September, there was widespread anger in Israel towards Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government following the announcement by the occupation army that it had retrieved the bodies of six captives found in a tunnel in the Gaza Strip. The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, said that the captives had been killed in the ongoing Israeli bombardment, and that it held Netanyahu’s government and the US administration — which supports the genocide regime with diplomatic cover and weapons — responsible for their deaths and the killing of other captives.
With each announcement that the Israeli army has retrieved the bodies of captives from Gaza, protests in Israel escalate, along with accusations directed at Netanyahu that he is obstructing prisoner exchange negotiations and ceasefire efforts.
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