The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Tuesday said it had carried out a joint operation with intelligence services to rescue an Israeli citizen who was among scores of people abducted in Hamas' October 7 attack.

The military said that Kaid Alkadi, a 52-year-old Israeli Bedouin who was being held by the Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas, was brought to safety "in a complex operation" in the southern Gaza Strip.

It added that Alkadi was in a stable medical condition and was being transferred to a hospital for medical checks.

"His family has been updated with the details, and the IDF is accompanying them," a post on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, read.

Military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Alkadi had been rescued in an underground tunnel. However, he gave no more details of the mission, citing the security of remaining hostages and Israeli forces.

"We will not rest until we complete our mission to bring all our hostages back," he told a briefing.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the rescue was "a moment of joy for the State of Israel and Israeli society as a whole."

Alkadi is part of Israel's Arab Bedouin minority and was working as a guard at a packing factory when the farming community of Kibbutz Magen was attacked. He has two wives and 11 children.

Hamas-led militants abducted some 250 people in the October 7 attack, in which about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry. The fighting has displaced around 90% of Gaza's 2.3 million people from their homes, causing widespread destruction across the besieged territory.

Hamas, classified as a terrorist organization by many countries including Israel, Germany and the United States, is still holding some 110 hostages, about a third of whom are believed dead.

The operation comes as talks continue in Qatar to bring about a halt to the fighting in Gaza and the return of the hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

rc/nm (AFP, dpa, Reuters)