Watch: ‘It is warm in our hearts,’ freed Israeli hostages tell IDF rescuers

Footage shows soldiers entering the complex where Fernando Simon Marman and Louis Har were held

Freed Israeli hostages told soldiers “it is warm in our hearts” as they were airlifted to hospital in video footage released by the Israeli military.
The video captures the moment Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70, were rescued on Monday during a raid by special forces in Rafah, southern Gaza.
They were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Yizhak in the Oct 7 Hamas attacks and held captive for 129 days.
In the video, a soldier welcomes the hostages on board a helicopter before asking: “How are you guys? How are you feeling?” In response, we hear that they are “shocked”.
The two hostages are asked if they are cold and want blankets, to which they replied with laughter and smiles. “It’s warm. It’s warm in our hearts,” one of them said.
“What joy. What joy,” the rescuer responded. “It’s great to have you with us, very exciting.”
Later, one of the hostages said: “We love you!”
Elsewhere in the video, Mr Har appears to ask for help tying his shoelaces, to which a soldier responded: “Of course, what a question.”
The footage shows Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops exiting a building in Rafah, with flames emerging from buildings on either side, while carrying two people, who appear to be the hostages.
Audio recording of the rescue mission confirms the two hostages are “good and healthy”.
A convoy then transports the troops and rescued hostages to a helicopter, which carries them back to Israeli territory, where the hostages were treated at Sheba Hospital near Tel Aviv.
The joint operation by the Shin Bet security agency, the Yamam counter-terrorism unit, at the IDF is the first successful hostage rescue since a female Israeli soldier was saved from Gaza in the early days of the ground offensive in late October.
The daring raid marks one of the few occasions Israeli ground forces have entered Rafah, the southerly city butting up against the Egyptian border, since their war on Hamas began.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, is preparing to launch a full-scale assault on the city where one million Gazans are sheltering after fleeing the bombs across the rest of the strip.