Only one Israeli hostage has been rescued so far after ten weeks

One hundred of the 240 hostages seized by Hamas on October 7 have been released. But only one has been rescued in a military operation. It is an extraordinary statistic. The Israeli security and intellligence service have a legendary reputation for rescuing hostages and tracking down their captors. But in this war, the obstacles are clearly greater than they have ever encountered before, yet they must surely be planning further rescue missions. The one successful mission took place towards the end of October. Private Ori Megidish who had been serving with an army observation unit on the border with Gaza when Hamas burst through the fences on October 7. Among the locations where they murdered and raped and kidnapped was the Nahal Oz base where she worked. But remarkably, in a secret mission involving the Israel Defence Forces and the Shin Bet security service, she was found and rescued and returned home. No details have emerged since abut how she was rescued. But with her knowledge as an observation specialist, she was able to pass on vital details about Hamas and its strongholds. But since that successful mission there has been no word of any other bids to free hostages other than through negotiations with Hamas via the Qatari government as mediators. The IDF had the chance of rescuing three more hostages when they suddenly emerged - escaped? But, tragically, they were assessed to be Hamas fighters and were shot dead by an IDF soldier. So the hostage-rescue list still has only one name on it.