Better than a baby: ‘Surprise’ hostage rescue gives way to joy as family reunites
Relatives of Farhan al-Qadi rush to hospital to see him after nearly 11 months in captivity, but celebrations tempered by concerns for 108 hostages remaining in Gaza
His jallabiya flapping in the wind, Hatem al-Qadi raced across the manicured lawns and sun-drenched sidewalks of Soroka Hospital in Beersheba. Running alongside several other men, relatives mostly, al-Qadi sprinted through hospital corridors toward his goal.
It had been 326 days since he had seen his brother Farhan al-Qadi, over 7,800 hours since Farhan had been abducted while working as a guard in a kibbutz factory near the Gaza border, held captive in unimaginable conditions, some 470,000 gut-wrenching minutes that the al-Qadi clan had spent worrying he was being tortured, beaten or worse.
Hatem did not intend to wait a second longer than necessary to be reunited with his brother.
Back together in a hospital room, as more and more joyous relatives crowded in the hallways outside, Hatem pulled out his phone and snapped a selfie, his toothy grin filling the frame.
In the background Farhan, who hours earlier had been deep inside a tunnel in southern Gaza, even managed to crack a smile.
The news that Farhan had been rescued Tuesday by Israel Defense Forces troops sent shockwaves through the al-Qadi family, including his two wives and 11 children.
Across the country, word that one of the 100-plus hostages remaining in Gaza had been whisked to safety in an operation the army called “brave and complex” provided a rare bright spot after over 10 months of war, upheaval and grief.
“It’s even better than the arrival of a new baby,” Hatem al-Qadi told Hebrew language media from the hospital, unable to stop smiling. “The truth is we didn’t think he would come back, but this is a great surprise, praise God.”
When he was found by troops in a tunnel in southern Gaza, alone without captors or fellow hostages, al-Qadi became just the eighth hostage to be rescued alive since the start of the war; military officials have made clear that recovering those remaining, including the remains of 34 hostages confirmed dead by the IDF, will likely require a swap agreement with the Hamas terror group.
תיעוד: משפחתו של פרחאן קאיד שחולץ מעזה רצים לעברו בבית החולים סורוקה@ShaIsrael2 https://t.co/wSc3qP3UlQ pic.twitter.com/pWsm9wxfXq
— גלצ (@GLZRadio) August 27, 2024
Hailing from the Al Qasoum area near the predominantly Arab Bedouin city of Rahat in southern Israel, al-Qadi was working as a guard at the Kibbutz Magen packing house outside Gaza on October 7 when Hamas launched its unprecedented assault on Israel.
Some 1,200 people were killed as Hamas-led terrorists carried out brutal massacres across the south, and 251 people were abducted and taken to Gaza, among them al-Qadi, who was snatched from an area near the nearby community of Mivtahim.
“We still don’t believe it. Ten months we waited for something,” a cousin of al-Qadi told Channel 12 news.
Soroka Hospital said al-Qadi appeared to be in good health, though additional checkups would be needed. In a video of him speaking by phone to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he appeared in good spirits, telling the premier “I’m also happy, I waited for his moment, I swear.”
Referring to Netanyahu as “Abu Yair,” in line with the Arabic naming conventions, al-Qadi thanked him “for this work, that you all got me to a situation where I can see my family and be here. You all did holy work, holy work you did. There are others who are waiting.”
"Ahlan wa sahlan, ya Bibi, ya Abu Yair!" Farhan Kadi greets and thanks the Prime Minister for his rescue, and reminds him more hostages remain. https://t.co/YLNlEnOZrN
— Jonathan Lord (@JonathanLordDC) August 27, 2024
In a call with President Isaac Herzog, who earlier said he was “overjoyed” by the rescue, al-Qadi was less sanguine, praising Israel and the IDF for extricating him but also telling him that “people are suffering there, every minute… do everything to bring people home.”
“People are suffering, suffering, you can’t imagine it,” he said.
Prof. Hagai Levine, head of the medical and resilience team of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, said al-Qadi could expect a lengthy recovery process.
“After a few days, they start to realize what they’ve been through,” he said of other hostages who had been rescued.
Hatem said his brother was feeling well, if a little thin, and had wanted to know how his family was. “He saw two or three of his brothers, asked after family, after his mother, I calmed him that everything was fine,” he told the press after leaving his brother’s room.
Levine called Fadi’s rescue a “ray of light” but added, “We need to remember that we don’t know what the health condition of the other 108 hostages is,” and called for the government to reach a deal to free the remaining hostages.
Politicians, campaigners and others were also swift to celebrate the rescue, even as the jubilation was tempered by the plight of those remaining in Gaza.
“Finally good news,” Labor MK and former party chief Merav Michaeli tweeted, insisting that Israel “must not wait for more successful operations, a deal must be closed now and all 108 hostages returned home.”
The message was repeated by other opposition politicians, including Yesh Atid MK Yoav Segalovitz, who highlighted the fact that al-Qadi was being reunited with his relatives while the family of recovered hostage Haim Peri was burying their loved one who had been killed while in captivity.
“We need to remember that [Peri] was alive and we could have saved him,” Segalovitz told Army Radio. “Especially given the success of today’s operation, we need to say, rescues won’t bring home 108 hostages; a deal will.”
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich of the far-right Religious Zionism party, who has threatened to bolt the government if fighting in Gaza ends as part of a hostage release deal, crowed over al-Qadi’s rescue, while also calling for increased military pressure to bring home the hostages.
“Each person is a whole world, and we have many more worlds to return home. We will do this with determination, courage and wisdom,” tweeted Likud MK Yuli Edelstein, the chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
Rahat mayor Talal al-Kranawi said he met with al-Qadi at the hospital, saying his rescue could give hope for others whose loved ones are in Gaza.
“We’re all happy; everyone in Israel is glad Farhan is home,” he said. “He spent a lot of time underground, but he is starting to see the light and the sun, and that gives him hope.”
According to the Ynet news site, al-Qadi told others that his captors fled as troops approached, but he was afraid to move due to concerns there could be booby traps.
Speaking to Herzog, al-Qadi recalled the moment he was found.
“When I heard Hebrew outside the door, I couldn’t believe it. Didn’t believe it.”
