TEL AVIV, June 8. /TASS/. The Israel Defense Forces said it rescued four Israeli hostages that had been held by Palestinian radicals in Gaza since October 7, 2023.

The operation to free the hostages took place near a Palestinian refugee camp in Nuseirat, the IDF said in a statement. The names of the people are Noa Agramani (25), Almog Meir (21), Shlomi Ziv (40) and Andrey Kozlov (27), who also has a Russian passport.

According to the IDF, they were all abducted on the morning of October 7, 2023 from the Nova music festival near the border with Gaza. The people are in good medical condition and have been taken to a hospital in Israel for additional examination, the IDF said.

According to the statement, the raid was carried out by the Israel Defense Forces, the Shin Bet, and the Yamam special unit. The hostages were released from two different locations in Nuseirat.

The situation in the Middle East sharply escalated following an incursion of Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip into Israel on October 7, accompanied by killings of residents of Israeli settlements near the border and taking more than 200 hostages, including children, women and elderly people. Hamas cast the attack as a response to Israeli actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Israel declared a complete siege of the Gaza Strip and started striking the enclave and parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.