But while the rescue of Argamani went smoothly, the task of rescuing the other three hostages on the third floor of the second building became complicated.
They were held in the home of Dr Ahmed al-Jamal, a medical doctor, who was a Hamas activist. His son, Abdullah, a journalist who had written for Al-Jazeera, was also staying in the apartment.
Some of the commandos used a ladder to enter directly into the room where the three hostages were held. This coincided with the entry of the rest of the force who came up the stairs from the main entrance of the building.
But Commander Arnon Zamora's team, which broke into the apartment at the head of the force, encountered massive fire from around thirty Hamas terrorists in the apartment They fired with machine guns, threw grenades and some even fired rocket-propelled grenade missiles at the surprised Israelis. This is how Arnon Zamora was killed.
The fact of the presence of 30 terrorists in the apartment had not been known to the undercover teams who had reported the information about the hostages’ location back to Israel. It is assumed that the terrorists arrived at the apartment only that morning or the night before, to strengthen the guarding of the three hostages.
Nevertheless, the experienced Israeli commando fighters were not deterred by the deadly surprise and continued to fight the terrorists with determination at close range, joined by the other fighters who were waiting outside the apartment. The three hostages had to hide in the bathroom of the apartment, protected by several Israeli fighters, during the battle. There was no way to leave the apartment due to the massive unexpected gunfire as it might endanger the hostages.
After a long face-to-face battle, the Israelis managed to eliminate all the terrorists in the apartment. But during the shooting from dozens of guns inside a crowded two-room apartment, Arnon Zamora was hit and lay on the floor bleeding, while three medics and a doctor leant over him, under heavy fire, trying to save his life.
Meanwhile, dozens of terrorists emerged from the tunnels around the building and began to fire at the Israeli fighters with machine guns and RPG missiles. The Israelis started making their way out of the building (several of them carrying Arnon Zamora on a stretcher), running through smoke-filled alleys and the nearby market which was crowded with thousands of Gazans who would not have hesitated to lynch them. The Israeli forces tried, under constant fire, to get to the rescue vehicle that was waiting for them, but it was hit by two RPG missiles.
The commander of the operation in Israel then activated ‘Plan B’, the rescue plan that had been prepared in advance: a daring operation under massive, very close fire from the enemy, covered by Israeli fire from ground, sea and air.
