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By Maayan Lubell and Nidal al-Mughrabi
JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) -Israeli forces rescued 4 hostages held by Hamas since October in a raid in Gaza on Saturday whereas over 200 Palestinians have been killed in airstrikes in the identical space, in keeping with Hamas officers, in one of many bloodiest Israeli assaults of the conflict.
It was not instantly clear if the hostage rescue and the Israeli air assault have been a part of the identical operation however each happened in central Gaza’s al-Nuseirat, a densely built-up and sometimes embattled space within the eight-month-old conflict between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian territory’s ruling Islamist group.
An Israeli navy spokesperson stated the hostage rescue operation unfolded beneath fireplace within the coronary heart of a residential neighbourhood, the place he stated Hamas had been hiding captives amongst Gaza civilians beneath guard by armed militants.
Israeli forces returned fireplace, together with with airstrikes, added the spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. An Israeli particular forces commander was killed in the course of the operation, a police assertion stated.
Israel named the rescued hostages as Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41. They have been taken to hospital for medical checks and have been in good well being, the navy stated.
They have been all kidnapped from the Nova music pageant in the course of the lethal raid by Hamas-led Palestinian militants on Israeli cities and villages close to Gaza on Oct. 7, which precipitated the devastating conflict within the Hamas-run enclave.
Hamas’ raid killed some 1,200 individuals, in keeping with Israeli authorities, and Israel’s subsequent bombardment and invasion of Gaza has killed at the least 36,801 Palestinians, in keeping with an up to date tally by the territory’s well being ministry on Saturday.
CALL TO PRESIDENT
Gunmen took round 250 hostages again to Gaza on Oct. 7. There are 116 now left within the coastal enclave, in keeping with Israeli tallies, together with at the least 40 whom Israeli authorities have declared lifeless in absentia.
Israeli Information 12 broadcast footage of Argamani reunited along with her father, smiling and embracing him. Video of Argamani’s kidnapping, displaying her shouting “Do not kill me!” as she was pushed into Gaza on a bike, circulated quickly after she was taken on Oct. 7.
A smiling Argamani was proven talking by cellphone to Israeli President Isaac Herzog from hospital surrounded by household and pals, in footage launched by the president’s workplace.
“Thanks for every little thing, thanks for this second,” she stated.
“I’m so excited to listen to your voice, it brings tears to my eyes … Welcome residence,” Herzog stated.
Poland praised the rescue of the hostages and stated that one is a twin Israeli-Polish citizen.
BLOODY SCENES
A distinct image unfolded again in Gaza, the place Palestinian well being ministry officers and native medics stated that an Israeli navy assault in Nuseirat had killed scores of individuals together with ladies and youngsters.
The ministry didn’t say how most of the fatalities have been combatants.
The Hamas-run authorities media workplace in Gaza stated later the demise toll had risen to at the least 210 Palestinians with many extra wounded, after medics and well being officers gave earlier tolls of as much as 100 lifeless. There was no fast affirmation of the best determine from Gaza’s well being ministry.
Social media footage that Reuters couldn’t instantly confirm confirmed our bodies spilling entrails onto bloodstained streets.
“It was like a horror film however this was an actual bloodbath. Israeli drones and warplanes fired all night time randomly at individuals’s homes and at individuals who tried to flee the realm,” stated Ziad, 45, a paramedic and resident of Nuseirat, who gave solely his first identify.
The bombardment targeted on a neighborhood market and the al-Awda mosque, he instructed Reuters through a messaging app. “To free 4 individuals, Israel killed dozens of harmless civilians,” he stated.
Emergency response groups sought to ferry the lifeless and wounded to hospital within the close by metropolis of Deir al-Balah however many our bodies have been nonetheless mendacity within the streets, together with across the market district, Ziad and different residents stated.
Nuseirat, a historic Palestinian refugee camp, has been subjected to heavy Israeli bombing in the course of the conflict and there has additionally been fierce floor combating in its jap areas.
The Gaza conflict exhibits no indicators of slowing at the same time as Israel’s chief ally the US presses for a ceasefire and a deal that might free the remaining hostages held by Hamas in trade for releases of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
The conflict has destabilised the broader Center East, drawing in Hamas’s major backer Iran and its closely armed Lebanese ally Hezbollah, which Israeli officers are threatening to go to conflict with on Israel’s northern border.
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