Israeli soldier rescued after kidnapping by Hamas

The Israeli military said Monday it had rescued an Israeli soldier who was kidnapped from an Israeli army base on October 7 and taken to Gaza during the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel.

The soldier, Pvt. Ori Megidish, 19, was rescued between late Sunday night and early Monday morning during the army’s ongoing invasion of Gaza, military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said. He declined to say where exactly she was being held but said she was in good physical and mental health.

More than 220 hostages were captured by Hamas and other groups on October 7. Ms. Megidish is the first to be rescued alive by the Israeli army, Colonel Conricus said. Four other hostages have been released by Hamas.

She was kidnapped after Hamas gunmen overran and briefly captured a military base in Nahal Oz, just east of the northern Gaza Strip, where she served as a field observer, according to Ynet, an Israeli news channel. Field observers monitor for threats along the Gaza border by analyzing video footage filmed by cameras placed along the border fences.

After providing Israeli security services with useful information during a debriefing, she returned to her family in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel, on Monday, Colonel Conricus said.

Video posted on social media showed her being celebrated at a joyful family gathering that included the playing of a shofar, a Jewish ceremonial horn.

Her return sparked celebration in Israel, even among people who had never met her. Dozens gathered to celebrate outside Ms. Megidish’s home; Some of them were relatives and neighbors, but others did not previously know her or anyone else in the family, according to television reporters broadcasting from the scene.

An aunt, identified as Smadar, said a television channel: “It is a great joy, we are excited, we thank the Lord, the people of Israel, our soldiers. This is because of you.” Around her, people waved Israeli flags and sang “Am Yisrael Chai,” a Jewish anthem that means, “The people of Israel live.”

Ms. Megidish was one of dozens of field observers at the Nahal Oz base on Oct. 7, according to a documentary about the attack by Kan, the Israeli public broadcaster. Only two escaped death or kidnapping, the documentary said.

Around 6 a.m. that day, Hamas terrorists broke through the base’s gates and entered the soldiers’ quarters, killing some and kidnapping others. In a video posted by Hamas after the attack, Ms. Megidish was seen with her hands cuffed together, standing next to other captured soldiers, all women, from the base.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described her release online as an “important and moving achievement, expressing our commitment to achieving the release of all hostages.”