The Kidnapping of Yaara Zarhi and Elad Banali occurred in 2019 when two Hamas militants, the father and son Jihad and Bashar Hamdan, kidnapped the Israeli students Yaara Zarhi and Elad Banali from a camping trip in the Wadi Qelt in the West Bank. The hostages were taken back to the Gaza Strip, resulting in a daring Israeli operation involving undercover Mista'arvim operatives. Elad Banali was killed during a failed escape attempt, but the Israeli operatives succeeded in rescuing Yaara Zarhi after a series of battles with Hamas, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, and the Abu Ammar Brigade that left dozens of Palestinian militants and one Israeli soldier dead.
History[]
Bashar Hamdan had previously been wanted dead by Hamas for his alleged collaboration with Israel; Mista'arvim operative Doron Kabilio had posed as an Israeli-Arab boxing trainer to become close to Bashar and his family, only to use this relationship to bring about the death of Hamas terror mastermind Fauzi Hamdan in a Mista'arvim raid on Dhahiriya. Bashar agreed to redeem himself by luring Kabilio into a trap on al-Amin Street in al-Aroub, with his uncle Abu Fauzi planning on killing Kabilio in a suicide bombing that wound avenge his son's death. This operation was foiled when Kabilio's Mista'arvim tream realized that Bashar was not coming to the meeting, and they shot Abu Fauzi before he could blow himself up.
Bashar and his father Jihad Hamdan were forced to go on the run, lest the Hamas commander Hani al-Jabari have them both killed as collaborators. Hoping to get back in Hamas' good graces, they drove off the side of the road near the Wadi Qelt after observing smoke from a campfire. Yaara Zarhi and Elad Banali, two 18-year-olds who were attending a premilitary academy in Jerusalem, were taken captive at gunpoint and forced into the Hamdans' car, before they were taken to the home of Palestinian policeman Abu Rami in Hebron for temporary safekeeping.
The kidnappers in the Lehavim Forest
The Mista'arvim and Shin Bet pursued the hostage-takers, but they arrived at Abu Rami's home after the hostage-takers had already agreed to move the hostages farther south in coordination with Hamas. They were tracked down to the Lehavim Forest, where they were forced to carjack an Arab man's van to escape as Kabilio's Mista'arvim team caught up. They were pursued to a pumping station at the border town of Sderot, where the kidnappers escaped into a Hamas tunnel guarded by Nukhba Force commandos. The Mista'arvim operatives were forced to flee after being pinned down in hand-to-hand fighting in the tunnels, and many sustained minor injuries from an explosive charge that caused a partial tunnel collapse.
Yaara's hostage video
With the Israeli pursuit unsuccessful, Jihad and Bashar Hamdan took their hostages into Gaza City, where al-Jabari greeted them as "heroes" and invited them to stay at a high-end hotel as "guests of honor." On 15 March 2019, Hamas put out a video of Yaara Zarhi holding a newspaper with the current date to prove that she was alive, and she was made to ask for Israel's release of imprisoned Palestinian terrorists. At the same time, Israel responded by sending the 35th Brigade towards the Gaza border.
The cabinet approved a hostage-rescue operation at the heart of Gaza, and, while Mista'arvim commander Eli Daniel was openly resistant to inserting his team at the heart of the "hellhole", Shin Bet Gaza Desk head Hila Bashan insisted on carrying out the operation. Daniel ultimately agreed, and his team would surveil Yusuf al-Masri, who went to the hideout twice a week with equipment and food. They would stay on al-Masri's tail until he led them to al-Jabari, who would lead the team to the hostages. They would only receive one communication a day via a secure network, leaving them as a highly autonomous team.
The Mista'arvim agents arriving
The four Mista'arvim agents infiltrated Gaza by boat during the early dawn hours, and their contact within Hamas, Abu Ihad, drove them into the city. They passed a checkpoint by being disguised as fishermen, and they were taken to s afehouse where they had two unregistered vehicles and local phones with SIM cards. Abu Ihad cautioned them to stay away from his family, and they also gave the operatives the home address of the gofer, Yusuf al-Masri. The Israeli agents tailed al-Masri, finding that he had headed to a hospital that was either crawling with commandos or was al-Jabari's hideout.
Elad Banali's body
That night, the two hostages made an escape attempt after stabbing their guard in the neck with a dining utensil. They stealthily maneuvered out of the building, leading Hani al-Jabari to assemble his commandos and have them scour the city for the hostages. The Mista'arvim team also moved in, tracking Elad's phone signal as they drove towards the building. The team coordinated with Shin Bet's geolocators to attempt to move Elad to a safe location around a roadblock where they could pick him up, throwing a smoke bomb so that Elad could move to a mosque door. However, a Hamas terrorist in the alleyway detected him and shot him in the back several times as he ran into the smoke, killing him. When the Hamas commandos showed Jabari the smoke grenades, Jabari realized that the Israelis had made it into the city.
Jabari decided to punish the soldier who had shot Elad and to tighten security, but Hamas' sheikh announced that Hamas' committee had decided that Jabari should return the hostage to the Hamdan family. While Abu Ihad asked the Israeli operatives to call off the operation, Doron persuaded the team that they had already come so far, and that they should still work to free Yaara. Meanwhile, the Israelis demolished the Hamdan family's home in Dhahiriya in retaliation for their involvement in the kidnapping. Shin Bet discovered Jihad's new phone number as he called his wife from al-Jundi al-Majhool Square in central Khan Yunis, intending on using his friend Samir Abu Samhadana's connections to smuggle Bashar out of Gaza to Europe via Egypt. Kabilio pursued Jihad, who drew a gun, resulting in an alleyway shootout in which Kabilio was forced to kill Jihad. Shin Bet made the decision to send in a chopper and evacuate the team in two and a half hours, but, at the same time, Jabari discovered Abu Ihad's involvement in the operation after discovering that Abu Ihad had purchased Jihad's untraceable SIM card to enable him to make contact with his family in the West Bank. Jabari executed Abu Ihad after learning that the Israelis were based out of his basement, as well as his role in the death of his family in a 2014 airstrike.
The Israelis taking down the Nukhba operatives
The Israelis went back to Abu Ihad's home to evacuate his family, and they stealthily dispatched the Nukhba commandos sent to find them. The Israelis took Issam Yunis, the military wing's Central District commander, captive, and they discovered that Abu Ihad had been executed. The unit's Shin Bet handler Gabi Ayub ordered the team to leave Gaza with Yunis as a captive, but Bashan discovered geolocated footage of Abu Samhadana's convoy and, lying to Ayub, suggested that Yaara may be in the convoy with Bashar, persuading Ayub to continue the mission and intercept the convoy at Shifa Hospital, where Bashar wished to see his father's body. The Israelis, disguising themselves as Nukhba commandos, accompanied Yunis into the hospital, using silenced guns to kill several terrorists before killing everyone in the command center. They saw from the monitors that Bashar was in the hospital, and they ambushed Bashar and Jabari as they entered the basement. While Bashar escaped, the Israelis captured Jabari, who said that the girl had never been at the hospital. Bashar took Avihai Konforty captive and confronted Kabilio, asking if he had killed his father, and, in the ensuing exchange of gunfire, Avihai was wounded and Bashar escaped.
The team reacting to Avihai's death
Shin Bet dispatched a drone to aid the Israelis in their escape, while Eli Daniel, Sagi Tzur, and Abu Ihad's family made it to the helicopter LZ. However, Eli refused to leave without Doron and Avihai, who carjacked a local and forced him to take them to his home, where Doron tended to Avihai's wounds. Steve Pinto and Nurit Shimon were sent in, disguised as ambulance drivers, to rescue Avihai, but they were held up at roadblocks. Eli tried to force Jabari to end the searches and open the roads, and, while he resisted, the border guards let the ambulance past the checkpoint after Nurit pretended to be a French medic delivering desperately needed medical supplies to children at Shifa. Meanwhile, Doron was told by the Palestinian man that Avihai needed to go to the hospital, as he was going into shock. When Nurit and Steve linked up with Doron in front of the hospital the next morning, they were forced to shoot their way past Hamas guards. Doron loaded Avihai into Nurit and Steve's ambulance and drove to the helicopter LZ, only for Avihai to be unresponsive on their arrival.
With Avihai dead, the Israelis threatened to bury Jabari alive unless he revealed Yaara's location; they also managed to kidnap his surviving daughter Dunya from her home, forcing Jabari to collaborate with them. The IDF chopper then evacuated Abu Ihad's family while leaving the team on the ground to continue their operation. Meanwhile, Bashar moved Yaara to his apartment after informing her that her rescuers had been repelled.
Hours later, Shin Bet reconnoitered Samir Abu Samhadana's estate and suggested that Yaraa Zarhi might be held there. As the Mista'arvim team readied itself for the operation, Shin Bet observed a convoy driving north on the Tayibe-Rafah route toward the Egyptian border, and they reported that the terrorists might be trying to take Zarhi into the Sinai. The Mista'arvim squad was forced to hasten their raid, while Shin Bet arranged for the IDF to drop an aerial assault that would shake all of Gaza once Zarhi was rescued; the IDF would guide the Mista'arvim operatives through Abasan al-Zaira, destroying houses, mosques, schools, and whatever else it took to clear the way for the team.
The Mista'arvim team planning their operation
The Mista'arvim team arrived at Abu Samhadana's estate with Jabari, whom they cut loose and threatened with the death of his last daughter, who was guarded by Nurit in the car. When Jabari met Abu Samhadana, he warned Abu Samhadana that the Jews knew that Abu Samhadana had the girl; however, Abu Samhadana said that his men reported that the Israelis had captured Jabari, yet he was standing before him. Jabari said that he and his men had wiped out the Zionist force, but they must have entered in several teams. Jabari said that the girl would be safer with Hamas, but Abu Samhadana laughed and said that the girl was safer with his men. Abu Samhadana persistently refused to hand over the girl, threatening to kill all of the Nukhba men, but Jabari threatened to have the entire Rafah division invade Abu Samhadana's mansion and kill anything that moved, including his wife and children. Abu Samhadana ultimately agreed to let the girl go, but Bashar grew suspicious of the fact that Jabari was unarmed, and he said that the armed men were the Jews. Bashar sent a man to warn Abu Samhadana, and Abu Samhadana gave orders for his bodyguards to kill the Nukhba commandos. The Israelis let Dunya al-Jabari free, while Doron and Nurit engaged in a drive-by shooting from their ambulance as the situation heated up, initiating a shootout. Sagi was wounded during the storming of the building, while Nurit killed Abu Samhadana. While the Mista'arvim agents cleared the building, Bashar attempted to escape with Zarhi in a green pickup truck. The Mista'arvim agents returned to the van to give chase, taking a wounded Sagi with them.
The Israelis crossing the border
As the cars drove into the desert, Yaara jumped out of the pickup truck, while the Mista'arvim team engaged Bashar in a shootout. Doron retrieved Yaara as the team traded potshots with Bashar, and they fled in their van as Shin Bet warned them that the situation in Gaza would blow up. The van broke down from the hits it had taken, forcing the team to hunker down until Shin Bet found an alternative. They were directed to head to a nearby plantation where Hamas' 40th Brigade regularly patrolled, only to meet an IDF team there. They successfully crossed the Gaza-Israel border with the help of the IDF, leading the Shin Bet team to celebrate and send in forces to evacuate the Israelis.