Israel’s latest hostage rescue operation, which brought four Israeli hostages to safety, also killed at least 210 Palestinians, including children, according to a Gaza health official.
Noa Argamani, 25; Almog Meir Jan, 21; Andrey Kozlov, 27; and Shlomi Ziv, 40, were rescued by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Israel Police and Israel Securities Authority, the IDF said in a joint statement.
The special operation, a heavy air and ground attack, took place in two different locations in Nuseirat in central Gaza. All four hostages were kidnapped from the Nova music festival, according to the IDF.
The bodies of 109 Palestinians including 23 children and 11 women were taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, and spokesperson Khalil Degran told The Associated Press (AP) that more than 100 wounded also arrived at the hospital. In addition, he said the rest of the 210 Palestinians killed were taken to Al-Awda Hospital after he spoke to the director there. But the numbers at that hospital could not be confirmed by the AP.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue the war until all hostages are freed, but Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official now based in Lebanon, struck a drastically different tone.
“The horrific massacre committed today by Netanyahu and his fascist government against the Palestinian people in Gaza, which led to slaughter of 210 and more than 400 wounded so far — under the pretext of liberating those detained by the resistance — confirms what the resistance has said repeatedly: that Netanyahu doesn’t plan to reach an agreement to stop the war and free the captured Israelis peacefully,” Naim said, according to The Associated Press.
The hostage rescue and subsequent deaths of Palestinians comes as Israel continues to face heavy international pressure and criticism for the number of civilian deaths, along with questions around whether Israel is doing enough to prevent them.
The United Nations on Friday added Israel to the body’s “blacklist” for violations against children, and progressive Democrats continue to decry Israel’s actions, with some vowing not to attend Netanyahu’s upcoming address to a joint session of Congress.