Gaza’s Health Ministry says 274 Palestinians were killed in Israeli raid that rescued 4 hostages

At least 274 Palestinians, including dozens of children, were killed, and hundreds more were wounded, in the Israeli raid that rescued four hostages held by Hamas, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Sunday. The Israeli military said its forces came under heavy fire and responded during the complex daytime operation in central Gaza. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The killing of so many Palestinians, in a raid that Israelis celebrated as a stunning success, showed the heavy cost of such operations on top of the already soaring toll of the 8-month-old war ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.

The Israeli bombing was “hell,” witness Mohamed al-Habash told The Associated Press. “We saw many fighter jets flying over the area. We saw people fleeing in the streets. Women and children were screaming and crying.”

Andrey Kozlov, 27, kidnapped from Israel in a Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, arrives by helicopter to the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel, Saturday, June 8, 2024. Israel says it has rescued four hostages in Gaza who were kidnapped in a Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Tomer Appelbaum)(AP Photo/Tomer Appelbaum)
Israel rescues 4 hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, and 210 Palestinians are reported killed
CORRECTS AGES: Pictures of rescued hostages who were kidnapped in a Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7. Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Noa Argamani, 26, hang on a wall in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, June 8, 2024. Israel said Saturday it rescued four hostages who were kidnapped in the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, the largest such recovery operation since the war began in Gaza. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
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In this photo provided by U.S. Central Command, humanitarian aid arrives in Gaza, Saturday, June 8, 2024. (U.S. Central Command via AP)
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The operation in Nuseirat, a built-up refugee camp dating to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, was the largest rescue since Oct. 7, when Hamas and other militants stormed across the border, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 hostage.

Israel’s massive offensive has killed over 36,700 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. It said 64 children and 57 women were killed in the latest raid, and 153 children and 161 women were among the nearly 700 wounded.

Saturday’s events also affected fragile attempts to deliver aid. The World Food Program chief said they suspended distribution around a U.S.-built pier off Gaza because “two of our warehouses, warehouse complex, were rocketed yesterday.” When asked how it happened and whether WFP shares its locations with Israel’s military, Cindy McCain said they did and “I don’t know. It’s a good question.” It wasn’t clear if she was referring to the rescue operation.

SCENES OF HORROR AT GAZA HOSPITAL
In Gaza, medics described scenes of chaos after the raid. Overwhelmed hospitals were already struggling to treat the wounded from days of heavy Israeli strikes.

“We had the gamut of war wounds, trauma wounds, from amputations to eviscerations to trauma, to TBIs (traumatic brain injuries), fractures and, obviously, big burns,” said Karin Huster of Doctors Without Borders, which works in Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. “Kids completely gray or white from the shock, burnt, screaming for their parents. Many of them are not screaming because they are in shock.”

The Israeli military said it had attacked “threats to our forces in the area,” and that a special forces officer was killed in the operation. It said rescuers had come under heavy fire, including from gunmen firing rocket-propelled grenades, and the military responded with heavy force, including from aircraft.

Inside Israel, local media have focused heavily on the Israeli toll, the hostages and military efforts with relatively little coverage of the situation for Palestinians inside Gaza.

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