The whole of Israel erupted with joy when the news broke that a Bedouin hostage named Farhan al-Qadi was home and free! The 52-year-old man was rescued in a heroic operation of the IDF and the Israeli Security Agency (ISA).
Emotional footage of his family members running through the hospital grounds to see him have flooded the internet, as well as the moving moment that he held his little baby in his arms again after almost ten months in captivity in Gaza.
Qaid Farhan al-Qadi, who is father to eleven children, was kidnapped from the Bedouin town of Rahat in southern Israel, along with over 200 other Israeli hostages on October 7th by Hamas terrorists. He survived 326 days in Hamas captivity before he was rescued by the IDF and ISA. Mercifully he is in a stable medical condition and is being taken care of at the Soroka hospital in Be’er Sheva, surrounded by overjoyed friends and family.
Israel is not just for Jews
The army and Security Agency worked together on the operation to free Farhan al-Qadi, and brought him back to Beersheva hospital near Rahat, and it’s worth remembering that there are Jewish and Arab hostages, Jewish and Arab soldiers and agents, and that there are Jewish and Arab medical staff all involved in this wonderful story.
It seems Hamas are claiming it was a “mistake” that they captured a Muslim, but as it is now being pointed out, it wasn’t a mistake to keep him in captivity for ten months, or to fire on his rescuers. The truth is that Hamas are fighting all of Israel, Jew, Arab, Muslims, Christians and Druze.
Former Mayor of Rahat, Abu Madighem, told Kan TV1 Farhan al-Qadi felt the fact that he was a Muslim did not give him any special treatment. Abu Madighem said,
“They treated him as an Israeli in every respect,” and that the whole time he was held hostage, “he barely saw the sun.”
Apparently he had been kept with another Jewish hostage who had died beside him. “This story is breaking his heart. He has many [terrible] memories,” Abu Madighem shared. “But ultimately, he is talking about being saved, rescued.”
The current Mayor Talal al-Kerawi went to visit al-Qadi at Soroka, and said, “We’re all happy; everyone in Israel is glad Farhan is home,” adding, “He spent a lot of time underground, but he is starting to see the light and the sun, and that gives him hope.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also called him up, and Farhan al-Qadi said “Ahalan sahalan ya Bibi!” which means, “Greetings Bibi!” before calling him Abu Yair, “Father of Yair”, (his oldest son) in Arabic.
The Bedouin people have a blood pact with the Jewish people that existed from before 1948, while the Jews were resisting the British Mandate that refused them entry even during the Holocaust.
The events hitting the Bedouin today and the horrors inflicted on Israel by Hamas have only strengthened that pact.
EDITORIAL
You’ve probably seen the devastating news that six more of our hostages have been murdered, and all of Israel is heartbroken. Yet with so much bad news in this war, we’ve been grateful to some good news—first the remarkable deliverance from the attack planned last Sunday, and now another hostage is free. Farhan al-Qadi is a Bedouin Israeli, and a Muslim, but he has been treated as despicably as everyone else who was taken captive on October 7 last year. It’s a good reminder to us and to the world that Israel is a mixed community of people, not an apartheid state. We are committed to reaching all of Israel with the good news of Jesus, whatever their background. We invite you to join us in prayer for the salvation of all of Israel, and also for our enemies.
Dr. Erez Soref, President, One for Israel
