Israel has announced its forces rescued four hostages from a Gaza refugee camp in an operation which the Gaza government media office said left 210 Palestinians dead and hundreds wounded.
According to AFP, in Nuseirat, where the hostages were being held, Palestinians described coming under intense bombardment and heavy gunfire.
The Israeli military said the four, who were in “good medical condition”, had been kidnapped from the Nova music festival during Hamas’s October 7 attack that sparked the conflict, now in its ninth month.
The Israeli military said Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41, were pulled out in a “complex” mission. It released footage and images of them being extracted by helicopter and then reuniting with loved ones in emotional scenes at a Tel Aviv hospital.
The hostages are among seven that Israeli forces have freed alive since Palestinian fighters seized 251 people in their October attack on southern Israel. There are now 116 hostages remaining in Gaza, including 41 the army says are dead.