Tel Aviv, Israel - The Israeli army has once again freed a hostage – a 52-year-old Bedouin man – held by the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas "in a complex operation" in southern Gaza, it said on Tuesday.

Kaid Farhan al-Qadi was in "stable medical condition" and taken to hospital for medical checks, the army said, adding that no further details would be released for security reasons.

The man, a father of 11 children, was the first hostage to be freed alive from a tunnel, Israeli media reported.

The Hostage Families Forum welcomed the rescue operation and said that al-Qadi had worked as a security guard in Kibbutz Magen on the border with Gaza and had been held hostage for 326 days.

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His return home was "nothing short of miraculous," the group said in a statement while emphasizing that military operations alone could not free the remaining hostages.

"A negotiated deal is the only way forward," the group said.

A relative told the Haaretz newspaper that the family can hardly believe he is free.

"For almost 12 months, we've been waiting to see what will happen," he said. The victim's brother told the paper that the family hopes "other families get this moment."

The Israeli Kan channel said al-Qadi was one of six Bedouins kidnapped by Hamas on October 7.

The Bedouins belong to the Arab minority in Israel and often face discrimination. The number of Bedouins in the country is estimated at around 250,000. Many live in the Negev desert in the south of Israel, and the army said the freed man is from the Negev.

"The whole Negev is celebrating," a relative told the news site ynet.

The army said it will continue to work to bring all the remaining hostages home. This is the eighth hostage to be freed alive by the military.

According to an Israeli count, Hamas still holds 108 hostages. At least a third of them are presumed dead.

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In total, Palestinian terrorists abducted more than 250 people from Israel to the coastal area on October 7. Around 1,200 people were killed in the unprecedented terrorist attack.

Israel's army responded with devastating air and ground assaults on Gaza in which, according to Palestinian figures, more than 40,400 people were killed, mostly civilians.

Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas on a ceasefire in the Gaza war, in which Qatar, Egypt, and the US are mediating, have been at a standstill for months.

The last success was in November when more than 100 hostages were released from Hamas violence during a brief ceasefire.

An Israeli Arab was reportedly shot dead after Israeli settlers entered a Palestinian village in the southern West Bank.

There were conflicting reports about the exact sequence of events leading to the fatal incident. Palestinian media reported that the approximately 40-year-old man was shot by settlers. According to Israeli media, however, it was soldiers who allegedly fired the shots. Four Palestinians were injured, according to the reports.

The Israeli news site ynet reported that the settlers entered the village south of Bethlehem following allegations that Palestinians had thrown stones at Israeli vehicles in the region.

The military reported that Palestinians had thrown stones at Israeli vehicles, damaging one of them. After that, stones were thrown at Israeli civilians who had come into the area. Confrontations between both sides ensued.

The Israeli army, in a statement, said Israeli soldiers arrived on the scene and opened fire at the rioters, hitting some. Reports of an Israeli civilian killed were being investigated by the police.

Overnight, an Israeli airstrike in the northern West Bank killed five people, the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Tuesday. The Israeli army announced that a control room belonging to Palestinian militants in the refugee camp of Nur Shams had been bombed.

According to Palestinian reports, a drone fired several shells at a group of people during the incident late on Monday evening.

The situation in the West Bank has worsened significantly since the start of the Gaza war following the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023.

Since then, 624 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, according to the Ministry of Health. Violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians also increased during this period.