“The first is on board, second, and third are with us,” Israel Air Force (IAF) soldiers can be heard saying in new IDF footage of the helicopter rescue of Shlomi Ziv, Andrey Kozlov, and Almog Meir Jan on Saturday.
The first video is from the “Yasur” helicopter, in which the three hostages were rescued following the hostage rescue operation by the Israel Police, National Counterterrorism Unit, and the Shin Bet in Nuseirat.
In the video, it can be heard, “Make sure that only three board.”
‘Have you ever been in a helicopter?’
In a second video, an IAF soldier asked the three former hostages, “Have you ever been in a helicopter?”
Andrey Kozlov, Shlomi Ziv, and Almog Meir Jan in IAF helicopter, June 8, 2024. (credit: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)
Then he asked, “First time?”
He said, “Look, it’s pretty simple, like a car.” He then points to the Ben Gurion Airport when he told them,”You are going to Sheba Medical Center – I think you’ll get a warm welcome there.” The soldier then added, “This is the most important thing in the world.”
The three hostages in these videos were rescued along with Noa Argamani on Saturday in a joint operation carried out by the IDF, Shin Bet, and police’s National Counterterrorism Unit Yamam in broad daylight.
Counterterrorism Unit commando Chief Inspector Arnon Zamora, who the operation was later named after, was killed in the operation.