Qaid Farhan AlkadiA 52-year-old Bedouin became the eighth Israeli hostage in the hands of Hamas being rescued alive. Kidnapped during the attacks carried out by the Palestinian terrorist group on October 7 He managed to escape this Tuesday from the tunnel in which he was being held in Gaza with the chance to meet the Israeli Defense Forces (FDI), thus ending 326 days of captivity.
Father of 11 children and two wives, Alkadi was taken hostage while working as a security guard in a packaging plant in Kibbutz Magen in southern Israel, one of several communities around the Gaza Strip that were attacked by Hamas on October 7.
Alkadi was taken by helicopter to Soroka Medical Center, Israel’s largest hospital, while the The IDF Chief of Staff authorized the continuation of the ongoing operation in order to Find out if there are any other hostages in the area.
On social media, Qaid Farhan Alkadi’s brother posted: several videos where he shows his joy After being informed of the rescue, he ran to the hospital to find him. Later, he uploaded a selfie with him in the bed at the health center.
“May all the hostages return and may all their families feel this feeling,” the brother of the freed man expressed with emotion in statements to Haretz after seeing him alive again.
For now, our hearts are full 💙:
Family members of rescued hostage Qaid Farhan Alkadi run to greet him at the hospital.
– Israel ישראל (@Israel) August 27, 2024
Alkadi became the first kidnapped to be rescued from a tunnelsince the other previous successful operations took place on the surface.
THE last living hostages, Four of them returned home on June 8 after one of the largest Israeli military incursions into Gaza since the start of the war. Last week, six more returned, in a coffinafter their bodies were found in a 10-metre-deep tunnel in the Gaza Strip. All had been shot in the head.
Of the 251 people abducted in the wave of attacks on October 7, 108 still remain in the hands of Hamas34 of whom were confirmed dead.
The Bedouin community
Alkadi was one of the six members of the Bedouin minority in IsraelSemi-nomadic Muslim Arabs, who were taken hostage on the darkest day in Israel’s history. Others were not so lucky. In total, 19 Bedouins died in these fateful attacks. from this day to communities close to the border with Gaza.
Among the Bedouins who lost their lives, twelve died at the hands of the militiamen and seven others, including six children, died when rockets hit their homes.Al Bat and Arara Communitiesin the southern desert of Israel.
Al Bat, like 36 other Bedouin communities not recognized by Israel, where some 80,000 people live, does not exist on the official map and therefore does not benefit from the protection of the anti-aircraft defense system, says Iron Domewhich protects the rest of the country’s population.
Israel seeks that more than 300,000 Bedouins living on its territory For hundreds of years, long before the state was established in 1948, they abandoned their agricultural way of life to live in the small, poor urban areas it granted them. Some 192,000 Bedouins have already accepted this.
