Gaza - May 23, 2024

IDF: New Details of the Complex Operation to Rescue the Bodies of Hostages Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum and Orion Hernandez from the Gaza Strip

The bodies of the hostages Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum and Orion Hernandez, may their memory be a blessing, were recovered on Thursday night in a joint operation in Jabaliya and returned to Israel by the IDF and the ISA. According to verified intelligence, the three hostages were murdered during the October 7th Massacre and abducted from the Mefalsim intersection into the Gaza Strip by Hamas terrorists.

As part of the current operations of the soldiers of the 98th Division in the Jabaliya area, soldiers of the 75th Battalion eliminated a terrorist who was seemingly operating as a spotter over the area where the bodies of the hostages were being held. The soldiers then raided the area and located the site of the bodies.

Shortly afterwards, special forces of the Yahalom Unit, the ISA and soldiers from a special unit in the Intelligence Directorate (J2) entered the area, located the bodies of the three hostages and rescued them in a complex operation carried out at night.

The intelligence information obtained regarding the location of the hostages’ bodies relied on accurate intelligence that was received and analyzed over the last few days by the division's intelligence array, the ISA and the Abducted and Missing Persons Headquarters in the Intelligence Directorate (J2). The operations to rescue the bodies are part of a campaign planned and conducted both above and below ground under the leadership of the 98th Division in Jabaliya.

The ongoing research effort is conducted at the Hostage Task Force Headquarters in the Intelligence Directorate (J2), side by side with the ISA and other IDF units. The effort lasted several months and included gathering intelligence and analyzing intelligence indications to put together the overall assessment. After the complex intelligence work, the headquarters were in continuous and close communication with the forces on the ground to direct them to the exact location that the intelligence and analysis suggested.