How many hostages has Israel freed through direct military operations (rather than negotiations) after Oct. 7?

Question

I haven't followed the war that closely in the past couple of months. I understand Israel now controls, or at least completely surrounded most cities in Gaza, except Rafah, and they are preparing to move in on that last "bastion".

IIRC, one of the goals of the war is to liberate the hostages that Hamas took to Gaza on Oct. 7. Aside from the negotiated settlement with Hamas from the end November, which saw some hostages released by Hamas in exchange for a short ceasefire, more aid, and even the release of some detained Palestinians, how many Israeli hostages we freed by Israeli forces by direct military actions?

Answer 1

As of 27/8/2024, the answer is 8:

• Ori Megidish was freed from northern Gaza on 31/10/2023.
• Fernando Simon Marman and Louis Har were freed from Rafah on 12/2/2024.
• Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Shlomi Ziv and Andrey Kozlov were freed from Nuseirat (Central Gaza) on 8/6/2024.
• Farhan al-Qadi was found inside a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip on 27/8/2024.

Answer 2

As of 28 August 2024, 117 hostages had been returned alive to Israel, with 105 being released in a prisoner exchange deal, four released by Hamas unilaterally and eight rescued by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

(Wikipedia source.)

The answer is 8.