Israel-Hamas: Gaza Health Ministry says 274 Palestinians died in Israeli army operation to rescue four hostages

Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry said 274 people, including children and civilians, were killed during an Israeli raid on a refugee camp to rescue four hostages on Saturday.

Israeli forces confronted Hamas with intense firefights and airstrikes inside and outside the Nuseirat refugee campuntil they managed to free the captives.

Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrei Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41, were rescued and returned to Israel after being kidnapped in the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023.

The Israeli military estimated that fewer than 100 people were killed in the operation.

However, if the latest figures from the Gaza Ministry of Health are confirmed, it would be one of the deadliest days in the conflict Until now.

The inhabitants of this densely populated area described the terror of being subjected to intense bombing and shooting.

Abdel Salam Darwish told the BBC he was in a market buying vegetables when he heard fighter jets in the sky and the sound of gunshots.

“People’s bodies were destroyed, scattered in the streets and with blood stained walls,” he said.

The return of the hostages was celebrated in Israel and the news was welcomed by several world leaders, including the American president, Joe Biden.

However, criticism of the fatal cost of the operation in Gaza increase.

The head of Foreign Affairs of the European Union (EU), Josep Borrell, said he condemned the operation “in the strongest terms.”

“Reports from Gaza of another massacre of civilians are shocking“he wrote in X.

An Israeli minister responded that instead of condemning Hamas for hiding behind civilians, the EU had condemned Israel for saving its citizens.

Images from the Nuseirat refugee camp area show the aftermath of the bombings and people mourning their dead.

Al Aqsa and Al Awda hospitals in Loop They reported that they had registered 70 bodies.

The Hamas-run ministry released the names of 86 of the 274 Palestinians it reported were killed during the two-hour operation.

Israel’s military spokesman Daniel Hagaripreviously estimated there were fewer than 100 victims, in what it called a “complex, high-risk mission” based on “precise intelligence.”

The Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, said special forces operated “under intense fire” when they rescued the hostages. A special forces officer was wounded and later died in hospital.

Videos taken in Gaza after the attack reveal scenes of carnage.

The images of Al Aqsa hospital They show numerous people with serious injuries lying on the blood-stained floor, where there is barely any space for doctors to move between the patients.

Another video shows how new injured people arrive at the hospital by car and ambulance.

The director of Al Awda hospital in Nuseirat told the BBC Arabic service that the number of dead arriving at the health care center increased during Saturday.

Dr. Marwan Abu Nasser indicated that one thing is missing morgue in hospital to house the bodies of the deceased.

A man told the BBC that he was in a house that was hit by a bomb.

“As soon as these children and women entered the house, the bomb attack occurred, claiming the lives of everyone inside,” he said.

“This house, which used to house 30 people and then became home to 50, was bombed,” he added.Only my father, my wife, a young man and I survived. “We are the only survivors of 50 people.”

The man claimed that more than 40 members of his family have been killed since the conflict began in October.

The bloodshed caused unusual criticism against Hamas by the inhabitants of Gaza.

Hassan Omar, 37, said he was sorry for the unnecessary loss of life in Israeli attacks.

“For every Israeli hostage they could have freed 80 Palestinian prisoners and without any bloodshed,” he told the BBC. “That’s a million times better than losing 100 people.”

“My message to Hamas is that stop loss is part of profitwe must get rid of those who control us from the hotels in Qatar.”

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