Israel-Gaza updates: Protest erupts in Tel Aviv over cease-fire, hostage deal

IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told a press conference on Tuesday of the “complex rescue mission” that freed Qaid Farhan Alkadi from a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip.

“He is back home in Israel,” Hagari said of Alkadi. He is only the eighth hostage rescued alive from Gaza by the IDF, and the first rescued alive from a tunnel under the strip. Alkadi was among scores of people seized in southern Israel during the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack.

“We cannot go into many details of this special operation but I can share that Israeli commandos rescued Qaid Farhan Alkadi from an underground tunnel, following accurate intelligence,” Hagari said.

“His medical condition is stable and he will undergo examinations in hospital. His family had been waiting 326 days to receive the news they did today.”

“But there are still 108 hostages, whose families are still waiting to hear news that their loved ones are home. And they should know that we will not rest until we fulfill our mission to bring all our hostages back home.”

“We will pursue the return of our hostages through all means possible. I repeat, through all means possible."

-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor

The Israeli military announced Tuesday that it had rescued an Arab citizen of Israel who was among scores of people abducted in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 terror attack.

Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, from the Bedouin town of Rahat in southern Israel, was rescued "in a complex operation in the southern Gaza Strip," according to Israeli authorities. He is the eighth Israeli hostage to be rescued alive from Gaza by the Israel Defense Forces and the first hostage to be rescued alive from a tunnel in the war-torn territory, an Israeli official said.

An Israeli source told ABC News that Alkadi is currently at Soroka Medical Center in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.

In a joint statement, the IDF and Israel Securities Authority said Alkadi "is in a stable medical condition and is being transferred for medical checks at a hospital." A spokesperson for the Soroka Medical Center told ABC News he "is fully conscious and in good general condition." The spokesperson added that Alkadi had "already met with a family member with great excitement."

The Hostages Families Forum -- a group representing family members of those taken hostage on Oct. 7 -- said in a statement that it "commends the rescue." It described Alkadi's return home as "nothing short of miraculous," adding: "We must remember: military operations alone cannot free the remaining 108 hostages, who have suffered 326 days of abuse and terror. A negotiated deal is the only way forward."

Israeli President Isaac Herzog wrote on X: "This is a happy moment for the State of Israel and for Israeli society as a whole. I wish for the immediate and speedy return of our 108 abductees who are brutally held captive in Gaza."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the leader had spoken with Alkadi by phone. "The prime minister congratulated Farhan and told him that the entire Israeli people are excited by his release," the office said in a statement. "The prime minister clarified in the conversation that he will continue to do everything to return all our abductees home."

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the "bold and determined" operation "joins a series of impressive operational activities, which bring us closer to achieving all the goals of the war."

-ABC News' Morgan Winsor, Jordana Miller, Dana Savir and Anna Brund

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Jr. has completed a visit to Israel amid intensifying fighting across the Lebanese border and continued uncertainty about a potential Iranian attack on Israel.

Brown met with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Israeli Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi in Tel Aviv on Monday. The officials discussed Hezbollah’s weekend rocket and drone attack and the “need to de-escalate tensions to avoid a broader conflict,” per a Pentagon readout.

Hezbollah launched its attack in retaliation for Israel's killing of Fouad Shukr in Beirut last month.

Brown told Reuters during his return trip to the U.S. that Iran may still be preparing a response to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month, an operation Iran has blamed on Israel.

“How Iran responds will dictate how Israel responds, which will dictate whether there is going to be a broader conflict or not,” Brown said, adding he believed Iranian leaders “want to do something that sends a message but they also, I think … don't want to do something that's going to create a broader conflict.”

-ABC News’ Luis Martinez

Cease-fire talks are now moving forward at a working group level in Cairo over the next few days to hammer out specifics, according to National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby.

This weekend's strikes by Israel and Hezbollah have "not affected the actual work on the ground by the teams trying to get this cease-fire deal in place," Kirby told reporters Monday.

Kirby also rejected any suggestion that talks broke down this weekend, instead saying they were "constructive" enough to work on "finer details" at lower levels.

"There was no breakdown," he said. "They made enough progress that they were willing to, or needed to transition to a working group level so you didn't need the mediators all there and the leadership there."

Brett McGurk, a top senior adviser on the Middle East at the White House, stayed in Cairo an extra day to kick off the meetings and is still there, Kirby said, adding that all parties are being represented in these discussions.

"One issue that will be for the working groups to flesh out is the exchange of hostages and prisoners that Israel's holding -- what that exchange looks like, how many, some of the details of exactly who will be released on either side and at what pace, those kinds of things," Kirby said.

-ABC News' Justin Gomez