The mother of one of the four hostages rescued from Gaza by Israeli commandos last week described the surge of emotions that she and her family have experienced since officials rang her to say that her son was safe.
“For a few minutes I probably didn’t know how to react,” said Evgeniia Kozlova, whose son Andrey Kozlov was one of 253 Israeli and foreign hostages abducted by Hamas-led gunmen during their attack on Israel on Oct 7.
“But then I started laughing. And I’ve been laughing all the time ever since. I’m absolutely happy,” she told Reuters.
Andrey Kozlov, 27, was rescued along with 21 year-old Almog Meir Jan and 40 year-old Shlomi Ziv by Israeli special forces who raided the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on Saturday in an operation Israeli officials said took weeks of planning and preparation.
Another Israeli hostage, 26 year-old Noa Argamani, was rescued from a nearby building during the same operation, which ended in a dramatic raid during which more than 200 Palestinians were killed, according to Gaza health authorities.
Evgeniia Kozlova said her first conversation with her son was an overwhelming mix of feelings that reflected the anguish they had suffered since his abduction from the Nova music festival ground just outside Gaza.
“It was both hard and joyful, and wonderful, and terrible because he was in a huge emotional turmoil,” she said.
