It was indeed a gory sight as Israeli forces attacks central Gaza killing scores of Palestinians, many of them civilians, on Saturday amid a special forces operation aimed at freeing four hostages held there.
At least 274 Palestinians were killed and 698 wounded in Israeli strikes on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, Gaza’s health ministry said on Sunday.
The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, called it a “massacre”, while the UN’s aid chief described in graphic detail scenes of “shredded bodies on the ground”. Eye witness reported that mangled bodies of men, women and children were strewn around a marketplace and the surrounding mosque
The rescue operation freed Argamani, 25, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 40. All four were healthy and were reunited with their families on Saturday after medical tests. A similar operation in February rescued two hostages while leaving 74 Palestinians dead.
In December, Israeli special forces tried to rescue a hostage in captivity, according to the two defense officials. Sahar Baruch, an Israeli hostage, was killed during the exchange of fire and two Israeli officers were seriously wounded.
Hamas released on Sunday that three hostages were killed during the bloody operation, including a U.S. citizen. Hamas vowed on Sunday that the hostages will not be released until Palestinians prisoners are also freed.
Despite the release of the hostages, protesters at rallies in Tel Aviv and across the country on Saturday night called for new elections and the return of the hostages held in captivity in Gaza, hours after the military announced that four hostages were rescued alive from central Gaza’s Nuseirat camp
Analyst believe this shows the overwhelming lack of trust of the Israeli citizens in the ability of the government to bring all the hostages home.
