One image, captured in real-time, encapsulated the entire event. It showed Brigadier General Itzik Cohen, commander of the 162nd Division, alongside the freed hostage Qaid Farhan Alkadi, minutes after he was located and released from the tunnel where he was held in Rafah.
It was a moment of joy that distilled months of hard work and reminded every commander and soldier operating in Gaza of what was at stake: living hostages held in subhuman conditions with the constant threat of death looming over them. It was also a moment of relief after weeks of retrieving bodies of hostages who were alive and died (or were murdered) in the tunnels, and now a living hostage was returned to his family.
More than anything, it was a realistic moment. Although the IDF operates in the tunnels under the strict assumption that hostages could be anywhere, Alkadi was located yesterday quite by chance. Two facts attest to this. First, the force that reached him was on routine activity and not on a special operation, and the composition of the force itself was quite routine and not based on the Yamam or Sayeret Matkal, which are the two units responsible for hostage rescue operations. Second, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, who was on his way to a pre-scheduled tour in the Jordan Valley, cut short his plans to update himself on the events remotely. Had he known in advance, he would certainly have stayed in the command center in the Kirya to command the event personally.
The lesson is clear. The ongoing military activity and continued takeover of underground areas in Gaza, as well as the continued crushing of Hamas, bring results over time, even in the issue of hostages. The Shin Bet and the IDF are gradually obtaining information that allows them to get closer to the hostages and sometimes even locate them – dead or alive.
Video: Alkadi's emotional reunion with the IDF / Credit: IDF Spokespersons Unit
The problem is that it takes time, a lot of time, and the hostages don't have time to wait. Despite the understandable joy over Alkadi's release, we must remember that the number of hostages who were taken alive and died in captivity is much larger than the number of hostages who were rescued alive and that the most living hostages were released in the deal carried out last November. The conclusion is that if Israel wants to bring back the hostages who are still alive in Gaza, and there are dozens of them, it must advance a deal, otherwise it will have to continue relying on luck and coincidence.
The deal currently being discussed in Cairo seems to be faltering, but the defense establishment believes that Israel can still go a long way to promote it. As always, the keys are in the hands of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who continues to behave as if this issue is not at the top of his priorities. Netanyahu was quick to publish a flood of announcements yesterday after Alkadi's release and even spoke with him on the phone, but what stood out from this conversation were the conversations Netanyahu did not have with the families of the six hostages from Nir Oz and Nirim, whose bodies were brought back from Khan Yunis last week.
They were abandoned on his watch and are being neglected by him again in their death. He even avoids visiting their kibbutzim. From the prime minister's perspective, statesmanship is a costume he dons for ceremonial photo opportunities (such as the state ceremony commemorating the October 7 massacre) but one he sheds when the cameras stop rolling. His commitment to leadership seems to waver in the day-to-day governance that truly defines a statesman's mettle.
