Four hostages rescued alive after 246 days

The 'complex daytime operation' in Nuseirat town billed as largest recovery mission since war began on Oct 7

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ISRAEL said its forces rescued four hostages alive from a Gaza refugee camp on Saturday, after an operation that militant group Hamas said left dozens of Palestinians dead and wounded.

The four had been kidnapped by Hamas from the Nova music festival during the Islamists' October 7 attacks that sparked war with Israel, the army said.

Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41, had been rescued from two separate buildings "in the heart of Nuseirat" in a "complex daytime operation", the military said, adding they were in "good medical condition".

They were among 251 captives seized by the militants in their October attack on southern Israel. There are now 116 hostages remaining in Gaza, including 41 the army says are dead. Footage posted on social media showed Argamani emotionally reuniting with her father after her rescue, as well as beachgoers erupting into cheers in Tel Aviv when a lifeguard announced the four had been freed.

Campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which has pressed Israel's government to reach a deal that would free the captives, hailed the rescue as a "miraculous triumph".