For the first time since the beginning of the Gaza war more than four months ago, Israel has succeeded in freeing civilian hostages alive from the hands of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement in a dramatic overnight rescue operation. Two men, aged 60 and 70, were freed during a daring operation by Israeli special forces in the border town of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. Immediately after storming the building, the Israeli Air Force began attacks in the Rafah area to enable the forces to withdraw, according to military sources. The Hamas-controlled health authority said at least 67…