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STORY: A joint operation by the Israel Defence Force (IDF), Israel's domestic Shin Bet security service and the Special Police Unit in Rafah freed Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Hare, 70, the Israeli military said.

The hostages were being held on the second floor of a building that was breached with an explosive charge during the raid, which saw heavy exchanges of gunfire with surrounding buildings, they added.

“We were a bit shocked, we didn’t know, we hadn’t expected it,” Edan Begerano, a relative of both Marman and Hare, told Reuters after visiting them in a hospital near Tel Aviv on Monday morning.

Begerano said that while he felt “happy” the two of them were freed, he was adamant that Israel and Hamas reach a deal “as soon as possible” to secure the release of the remaining Israeli hostages.