The Israeli special hostage rescue operation in the Nuseirat refugee camp left more than 230 people dead.
The Israeli military rescued four hostages during a special operation in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip: Noa Argamani, 25, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41, according to a statement by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). The four were kidnapped at the Nova music festival on 7 October.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Israeli forces had to enter civilian neighbourhoods to reach the hostages because that is where Hamas has established itself.
Hospital officials in the Gaza Strip said the Israeli operation killed 236 people and wounded more than 400. The dead and wounded were taken to two hospitals in Gaza: Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah. Al-Awda Hospital director Dr Marwan Abu Nasser reported that 142 bodies had been counted at the medical facility by late Saturday, while Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah said 94 bodies had been counted, according to CNN.
Despite the statement from Gaza officials, the Israeli army spokesperson put the number of casualties from the operation at less than 100 and did not disclose how many civilians were among them.
Palestinian civilians described horrific scenes during the Israeli military operation, telling reporters that children were “torn and scattered in the streets” as a result of heavy bombardment. CNN video from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital shows many people carrying injured children drenched in blood in their arms and patients crowding the floor of the emergency room.
Hagari said the IDF had received intelligence about their whereabouts in advance. The hostages were in two separate flats in civilian high-rise buildings about 200 metres (650 feet) apart, and Argamani was being held in a different building from the three men, according to him.
The Rear Admiral also specifically noted that the IDF had to postpone the operation at the last minute more than three or four times due to unfavourable conditions. However, the IDF subsequently launched pre-planned strikes against militant infrastructure. Also, the IDF came under heavy fire, especially after leaving the flats, he claimed, but provided no proof of his claims.
Following Saturday’s announcement, the total number of hostages still held in the Gaza Strip since 7 October now stands at 116, of whom at least 41 are dead.
Comments from the UN and Hamas spokesmen
The UN aid chief, Martin Griffiths, expressed concern on Saturday about the Israeli attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp. He said in a statement:
“Today, Nuseirat refugee camp is the epicentre of the seismic trauma that civilians in Gaza continue to suffer. The images of death and devastation following Israel’s military operation there prove that each day this war continues, it only grows more horrific.”
In addition, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell welcomes the release of four hostages in the Gaza Strip operation, but emphasises that the only way to free all captives is through the proposed truce and hostage agreement announced last week by US President Joe Biden. He stated:
“Reports from Gaza of another massacre of civilians are appalling. We condemn this in the strongest terms. The bloodbath must end immediately.”
Hamas said the rescue would not change Israel’s strategic failure in the Gaza Strip, as the group was still holding a large number of other hostages after eight months of fighting. Moreover, the operation is a brutal crime devoid of the values of civilisation and humanity.
Sulaiman Ahmed, a journalist, stressed on X: “In a brutal crime, it confirms the nature of this criminal fascist entity, which is devoid of the values of civilisation and humanity. Today, the terrorist occupation army committed a horrific massacre against innocent civilians, centred in the Nuseirat refugee camp and extended to the rest of the areas of the Central Governorate. It led to the death and injury of hundreds of martyrs and wounded, and the destruction of residential neighbourhoods in a brutal escalation of the war of extermination carried out against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.”
The group’s leader Ismail Haniyeh stated: “Our people will not surrender, and the resistance will continue to defend our rights in the face of this criminal enemy.”
Abu Obaida, a spokesman for the armed wing of the Al-Qassam Brigades, expressed doubts about the safety of the hostage rescue operation. He said some hostages died during the rescue operation, but did not provide any evidence or specify the identities of the presumed dead.
D-8 Council of Ministers calls for ceasefire in Gaza
The D-8 Council of Ministers on Saturday called for an “immediate, permanent and unconditional” ceasefire and an end to Israeli aggression against Palestinians in the besieged enclave. The joint declaration also called on all countries to ensure Israel’s strict compliance with the interim measures ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Anadolu Ajansı reported.
The D-8 countries “reaffirm the D-8 member states” unwavering support for the Palestinian people’s struggle for the realisation of their inalienable rights, Palestine’s full membership in the United Nations and all resolutions pertaining to the Palestinian cause in international forums, according to the statement.
The statement reaffirmed all UN resolutions and other international organisations concerning Palestine, the crimes of Israeli forces, the right of the Palestinian people to freedom and independence in all territories occupied since 1967.
Сountries reaffirmed “that a just, lasting and comprehensive peace is the only path to guarantee security and stability for all the peoples of the region and protect them from the spiral of violence and wars, and will not be achieved without ending the Israeli occupation and settling the Palestinian issue on the basis of the two-state solution,” according to the statement.
Israel launched an offensive on the Gaza Strip following a Hamas attack on 7 October. The Israli offensive killed over 36,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and more than 83,500 injured. Tel Aviv is facing genocide charges at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Israel to immediately halt its activities in the southern city of Rafah, sheltering over 1 million displaced Palestinians. Despite, Israel strongly rejects any truce, insisting on the full elimination of Hamas.
