In a dramatic raid, the Israeli forces on Monday rescued two hostages by storming a heavily guarded apartment in a densely packed town in the Gaza Strip. The airstrikes that gave cover to the raid reportedly killed more than 60 Palestinians, including women and children.
The overnight aerial attack devastated the densely packed city of Rafah, which is home to around 1.4 million people.
The two rescued hostages have been identified as Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70, who were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak on Oct 7. They also hold Argentinian citizenship.
All about the raid
According to Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm Daniel Hagari, the special forces broke into a second-floor apartment in Rafah under fire at 1:49 am Monday, accompanied a minute later by airstrikes on surrounding areas.
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He further added that the Hamas militants were guarding the captives and that members of the rescue team shielded the hostages with their bodies as the battle erupted.
Israel-Palestine War: The hostage situation
According to Israel, about 100 hostages are still captivated by the Hamas while dozens were freed during a cease-fire in November.
The government has made freeing the hostages a top aim of its war, along with destroying Hamas' military and governing capabilities. But as the fighting drags on, rifts have emerged in Israel over how to retrieve them.
So far, the hostage situation in Israel's offensive has killed more than 28,000 Palestinians in the territory, displaced over 80% of the population and set off a massive humanitarian crisis.
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(With AP inputs)
