The wife of the IDF officer who was killed in the hostage rescue operation in Gaza Strip has paid tribute to “an amazing partner, a perfect father.”

Arnon Zmora of the elite Yamam counter-terrorism unit was critically injured as part of the operation to rescue the four hostage freed yesterday.

In a Facebook post his wife, Michal Zmora, said her husband was “a loving and loved man.

“Now, everything is filled with the image of the late hero Arnon Zmora.

“But long before he was a warrior and a hero he was a sweet and charming man.”

Zmora’s funeral is expected to take place today at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem.

Following his death the name of the hostage rescue mission was named in “Operation Arnon” in his memory.

The 36-year-old father-of-two played a leading role in the historic mission that freed four hostages in the central Gaza Strip.

In a statement released on Saturday the IDF said: “This morning (Saturday), in a joint IDF, ISA and Israel Police (Yamam) complex special daytime operation in Nuseirat, four Israeli hostages were rescued. Noa Argamani (25), Almog Meir Jan (21), Andrey Kozlov (27), and Shlomi Ziv (40), were kidnapped by the Hamas terrorist organization from the 'Nova' music festival on October 7th.

“The hostages were rescued by the IDF, ISA and Yamam forces from two separate locations in the heart of Nuseirat.

“They are in good medical condition and have been transferred to the Sheba Tel-HaShomer Medical Center for further medical examinations.”

Social media was inundated with tributes to the hero who helped rescue the hostages.

One tribute came from Amir Ofer, who was one of the rescuers of the hostages in Entebbe, and had had a chance encounter with Zmora before he passed away.

Entebbe was a 1976 Israeli counter-terrorist mission in Uganda which saw the Israeli military launched Operation Thunderbolt, the successful rescue by IDF commandos of more than 100 hostages kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists at Uganda's Entebbe airport.

Ofer, who was involved in that rescue, wrote: “I wanted to share with you an experience I had with him. I didn't know him. I was at some show at the amphitheatre in Mevaseret Zion a few years ago. There were a few thousand people there. Suddenly, a lovely guy approached me, asked if he identified me correctly, and told me that he was an officer in the Yamam and asked me to come lecture to them about Entebbe. Of course, I agreed.”

Ofer said he was contacted again by Zmora on October 16, 2023.

Ofer wrote: “I received a call from him ‘I must talk to you.’ It was his first outing since the war began.”

Ofer revealed that they talked for two hours about how Zmora responded to October 7 and that he asked Ofer for his advice about fighting the war.

Ofer wrote: “I saw before me a man among men, a true hero and an exceptionally moral person. I told him – and I meant every word I said – that there is no comparison between the situations and that even God would not have been able to save the people in Be'eri.

“I recommended that he take a few days quietly and write down everything that happened to him in the crazy first days of the war. He thanked me very much.”

Ofer said that Zmora followed his advice and wrote everything down about what happened on October 7.

Ofer said he told him at the time: “You literally saved the country. You have already secured your place in heaven, and more.”

Ofer added: “This man deserves to be known by everyone in the country.”