Israeli forces rescued four hostages alive after raiding the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, Palestine. They have been planning for weeks before this expedition. While the rescue of the hostages brought joy to the Israelis, it also resulted in the deaths of 274 Palestinians.
Israeli forces killed more than 200 Palestinians in the densely populated Nuseirat refugee camp while rescuing hostages, Gaza authorities said. Many of these victims include children. One such child’s mother is Nora Abu Khamis. He lost some other family members. Nora broke down in tears while talking to the BBC.
“I was gathering the body parts of my child, the child of my soul,” said this helpless Palestinian mother who took refuge in the Nuseirat camp. Another child is between life and death. Even my husband, mother-in-law—the whole family was destroyed. Israel is trying to ethnically exterminate us.’
Israel announced the rescue of four hostages on Saturday. The campaign was named ‘Seeds of Summer’. The operation was carried out during the day. Israeli forces do not usually do this. They say the daylight raid was decided to shock the enemy.
Daytime raids meant people were on the roads near the scene. Local people were even shopping in a nearby market. It was also dangerous for Israeli soldiers. Leaving the refugee camp was more dangerous for them than entering it. The country’s police said that a soldier who was injured during the operation died.
In 1976, Israeli soldiers rescued 100 hostages in a raid in the city of Entebbe, Uganda. Referring to that incident, Israeli Defense Force (IDF) spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the operation in the Nuseirat refugee camp was similar to the Israeli operation in Entebbe.
Daniel Hagari said, based on intelligence, the country’s commandos entered Gaza from Israel. They then raided two residential apartments in the Nuseirat camp. In one apartment was 26-year-old Noah Argamani. In the other were Shlomi Ziv (41), Andrei Kozlov (27) and Alamg Meir Jan (22).
The four rescued hostages were not in any cages. They were locked in the room. Security guards were guarding the houses. According to an IDF spokesman, after the hostages were rescued, they were surrounded by Israeli soldiers like a shield. In this way, they were taken out of the building in an armored vehicle.
After leaving the scene, Israeli troops faced fierce resistance from Palestinian fighters, said Daniel Hagari. He said that the Israeli forces had planned this operation in a very detailed manner. They even made a model of the building of the Nuseirat camp and carried out an operation exercise.
According to the public relations office of the ruling group Hamas in Gaza, 274 Palestinians were killed in this Israeli operation. But according to Hagar, this number is less than 100 people. The BBC was unable to verify the actual number of deaths.
10-year-old Arez al-Zahdneh spoke to the BBC about Israel’s operation in the Nuseirat camp. According to him, the Israeli forces launched airstrikes as well as shelling from tanks. Apart from this, the soldiers opened fire. “We couldn’t breathe,” said the child. My sister Rimaj got a head injury. Another five-year-old sister was also injured.