The Israeli army rescued four hostages from central Gaza on Saturday, in an operation that had been planned for weeks.
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For Israelis it was a celebration and a relief. For the Palestinians, this brought more suffering. Hospitals said dozens of people, including children, died in the attack on the densely populated Nuseirat camp.
By mid-morning the streets were full of people shopping at a nearby market.
Dubbed “Summer Seeds,” the attack took place during the day, highly unusual, but which the Israel Defense Forces said allowed it to have the advantage of a greater element of surprise.
It also meant an increased risk for Israel’s special forces, not only when entering, but especially when leaving.
A special forces officer was wounded and died in hospital, Israeli police said.
“It was on a scale like Entebbe,” said Israeli army chief spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, referring to the Israeli rescue of 100 hostages in Uganda in 1976.
Acting on intelligence, and after crossing into Gaza from Israel, he said specialized commandos Two residential apartments were raided simultaneously in Nuseirat where the hostages were held.
Noa Argamani, 26, was held hostage in one of the apartments. In the other were Shlomi Ziv, 41, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Almog Meir Jan, 22.
Hagari commented that They were not in cages but in closed rooms and surrounded by guards.
He said that the Israeli commandos, after having entered by force, took the hostages and They wrapped them to provide protective shields, before taking them to military vehicles that were outside.
When they left, he said they faced a fierce resistance from Palestinian fighters.
Hagari explained that the army Israel planned the attack in great detaileven building models of the two apartments so they could train.
The United States also provided support intelligence to Israel for the operation, according to BBC partner CBS News, which cited two US officials.
Mobile phone video shows people seeking shelter as missiles whiz in and gunshots are heard.
Later images showed corpses scattered in the street.
The raid clearly involved massive force. Doctors at the two hospitals in central Gaza said they had counted more than 70 corpses.
Hagari estimated fewer than a hundred, while Hamas’ media office said more than 200 people had been killed.
The BBC has not been able to verify the number of victims.
“I have gathered the body parts of my son, my dear son,” Nora Abu Khamees, a refugee in Nuseirat, told the BBC as she broke down crying.
“My other son is between life and death. Even my husband and my mother-in-law, our entire family is destroyed. “This is genocide.”
Areej Al Zahdneh, 10, speaking at a nearby hospital, told us that there were airstrikes, tanks and shooting.
“We couldn’t breathe. “My sister Reemaz received shrapnel in the head and my sister Yara, five years old, also received shrapnel.”
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