[ad_1]
DEIR BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces launched a heavy air and ground assault Saturday during an operation to rescue four hostages in central Gaza that Gaza health officials said killed at least 210 Palestinians, including children.
Israelis rejoice at the army’s announcement of the release of Noa Argamani, 26; Almog Meir Jan, 22; Andrei Kozlov, 27; and Shlomi Ziv, 41, during the day in the center of Nusserat. The four hostages are safe, according to the Israeli military. They were flown by helicopter for medical checks and reunited with their loved ones after 246 days in captivity.
Israeli planes buzzed the sky as the bodies of 109 Palestinians, including 23 children and 11 women, were taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where spokesman Khalil Degran told The Associated Press that more than 100 wounded had also arrived. He specified that a total of 210 dead were received there and at Al-Awda Hospital, and said he had spoken to the latter’s director. So far, the figures for Al-Awda have not been confirmed.
“Today Netanyahu and his fascist government, under the pretext of releasing those detained by the resistance, have committed a horrific massacre of the Palestinian people in Gaza, killing 210 people and injuring more than 400 so far, confirming what the resistance has repeatedly said: Netanyahu is not going to reach an agreement to stop the war and peacefully release the captured Israelis,” said Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas official now living in Lebanon.
Associated Press reporters saw dozens of bodies pouring in from the Nusseirat and Deir al-Balah areas, with smoke rising in the distance and armored vehicles passing by.
A baby was among the dead. Children were crying and covered in blood. Bodies lay barefoot on the ground outside, and more injured were taken to hospitals.
“Two of my cousins were killed and two others were seriously injured. They had committed no crime. They were sitting at home,” one relative said amid the chaos. As Palestinians explored the newly destroyed building, a young boy sat on a collapsed metal door, disoriented.
Egypt condemned the Israeli attack on the Nusserat refugee camp “in the strongest terms,” with its foreign minister calling it a “flagrant violation of all norms of international law.” Jordan also condemned the attack.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on the X social network that “the bloodbath must end immediately,” referring to reports of civilian deaths.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said the operation was “essentially daring, ingeniously planned and brilliantly executed.”
The Israeli military claimed it struck “a threat to our forces in the area,” adding that one soldier died from his wounds.
Israeli military spokesman Maj. Gen. Daniel Hagari told reporters that military BroadCast Unitedligence had recently determined that the captured Israelis were being held in two apartments about 200 meters (219 yards) apart in the center of the Nusserat camp. He said the Israeli military had repeatedly trained on a mock-up of the apartment building.
Hagari said Israeli forces entered both apartments simultaneously in broad daylight, believing this ensured the best possible surprise. However, Hagari said the rescue team encountered resistance, including from men in the community carrying rocket-propelled grenades.
“There was a lot of fire all around us,” he said, adding that the Israeli military responded forcefully, including using aircraft to evacuate soldiers and free prisoners.
An official in President Joe Biden’s administration, who was not authorized to comment and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. hostage release team, which is made up of multiple agencies, provided advice and support throughout the search and rescue of the hostages.
Agamani became one of the most high-profile hostages after she was captured at a music festival. In a video of her abduction, she sits between two men on a motorcycle and shouts: “Don’t kill me.”
Her mother, Liora, who suffers from brain cancer, posted a video pleading to see her daughter. Israel’s Channel 13 reported that Agamemani was taken to a hospital where her mother is being treated.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed in a statement to continue fighting until all hostages were freed.
Hamas took about 250 hostages in the Oct. 7 attack, which killed about 1,200 people. About half of the captives were released during a week-long ceasefire in November. About 120 hostages survived, of whom 43 have been declared dead. Among the survivors are about 15 women, two children under the age of five and two men over 80 years old.
Saturday’s operation brings the total number of captives freed by Israel to seven. Two were freed in February and one was rescued shortly after the October raid. Israeli forces have so far recovered the bodies of at least 16 Gaza hostages, according to the Israeli government.
The rescue was a morale boost for Israelis at a time of growing divisions over the best way to get the hostages home. Many Israelis have urged Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire announced by Biden last month, but his far-right allies have threatened to overthrow his government if he does so.
Netanyahu, whose popularity has slumped, immediately went to the hospital to greet the freed hostages, but thousands of Israelis gathered again on Saturday afternoon in the latest anti-government demonstrations, calling for a ceasefire.
“It’s time to pay for a political deal. A deal that would allow them all to come home without putting the soldiers at risk,” said Omri Shtevi, whose brother Idan is among the captives in Gaza.
It was unclear what impact the rescue effort might have on the possibility of a ceasefire. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due to return to the Middle East next week to try to make progress.
“The hostage release and ceasefire agreement currently on the table will ensure the release of all remaining hostages and provide security for Israel and relief for innocent civilians in Gaza,” U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement.
International pressure is growing on Israel to limit the killing of civilians in the Gaza war, which has killed 36,700 Palestinians as of Friday, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Palestinians also face widespread starvation as fighting and Israeli restrictions have largely cut off the flow of humanitarian aid.
Meanwhile, Benny Gantz, a popular centrist member of Israel’s wartime cabinet, postponed a scheduled announcement and threatened to resign from the government if it does not adopt a new Gaza war plan by Saturday. Netanyahu urged him not to resign.
[ad_2]
Source link
