Israel military rescues Hamas hostage, father of 11, from Gaza tunnel
Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, was found alone in tunnel under Gaza after 326 days of captivity
Israeli security forces freed a male hostage held in Gaza since October 7 from an underground tunnel used by Hamas.
Qaid Farhan Alkadi, a 52-year-old Bedouin Arab Israeli from the town of Rahat, was found by special forces in a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, according to the Israel Defence Forces and Shin Bet, the country’s internal intelligence agency.
Alkadi, a father of 11, was in a stable condition and transferred to a hospital, they said. He was working as a security guard at a kibbutz, Magen, when he was captured, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
According to a senior military official, Alkadi was found alone by Israeli forces while they were operating in a complex underground system where it was suspected hostages were being held. An Army Radio reporter said on X that the soldiers found Alkadi by chance.
The official added that lessons from previous encounters with hostages had been implemented for the operation, without providing details but possibly referring to the accidental killing of three hostages by the IDF in December while they tried to escape.