Gaza's Health Ministry said on Sunday that at least 274 Palestinians were killed, including dozens of children, and hundreds more were wounded in an Israeli raid. The Israeli military said its forces came under heavy fire during a complex daytime operation in central Gaza and returned fire.
Israelis celebrated the stunning success of the attack, which killed so many Palestinians, suggesting the high cost of such operations, and the heavy casualties of the eight-month war that began with the Hamas attack on October 7.
Witness Mohammad Habash told The Associated Press that the Israeli bombing was “hellish.” “We saw many fighter jets flying over the area. We saw people running in the streets. Women and children were screaming and crying.”
The rescue operation is the largest since Hamas and other militants crossed the border on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 hostages.
Israel's massive offensive has killed more than 36,700 Palestinians, according to the Israeli Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The ministry said 64 children and 57 women were killed in the latest attacks, and 153 children and 161 women were among the nearly 700 wounded.
Saturday's events also affected fragile aid deliveries. The head of the World Food Program said they had temporarily suspended deliveries of supplies from a U.S.-built terminal near Gaza because “two of our warehouses were hit by rockets yesterday.” Asked how this happened and whether the WFP shares its warehouse locations with the Israeli military, Cindy McCain said they do share locations, “I don't know. That's a good question.” It was unclear if she was referring to the relief operation.
Horrific scenes at Gaza hospital
In Gaza, medical workers described scenes of chaos in the aftermath of the attack, with hospitals overwhelmed with people wounded by days of heavy Israeli attacks.
“We see all kinds of war injuries and trauma, from amputations to eviscerations, traumatic brain injuries, fractures and, of course, extensive burns,” said Karin Hurst of Doctors Without Borders, who works at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. “Children are white from shock, from burns, and screaming for their parents. Many of them are not screaming from shock.”
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The Israeli military said it attacked “those in the area who posed a threat to our forces” and that a special forces officer was killed in the operation. The Israeli military said rescuers came under heavy fire, including from gunmen firing rocket-propelled grenades, and the military responded with heavy force, including aircraft.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz harshly criticized critics of the operation in a post on X, saying that “only Israel's enemies complain about casualties among Hamas terrorists and their collaborators.”
In Israel, local media mainly focus on Israeli casualties, hostage situations and military operations, with less coverage of the situation of Palestinians in Gaza.
'My brother died of grief'
Israelis continued to celebrate the return of Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41, to be reunited with their loved ones.
Agamani's mother, Leola, who suffers from advanced brain cancer, released a video pleading to see her. Agamani's father told Army Radio that the reunion was “very difficult” because Leola “couldn't express how she felt, couldn't say what she really wanted to say.”
Meir Young's aunt Dina said his father died on Friday, hours before surgery. “My brother died of grief,” she told Israel's Kan public broadcaster.
Dr. Itay Pesah of Sheba Hospital said no one was seriously injured, but he told reporters they had lost friends and family and that hospital staff “have been helping them rebuild their lives.”
About 120 hostages remain in Gaza, 43 of whom have been declared dead, after about half were released in a week-long ceasefire last November. Israeli forces have recovered at least 16 bodies, according to the government. Survivors include about 15 women, two children under the age of five and two men in their 80s.
Dozens of hostages are believed to be held in densely populated areas or in Hamas's labyrinth of tunnels, making rescue efforts complicated and dangerous. A raid in February rescued two hostages but left 74 Palestinians dead.
The Israeli military admitted that it could not carry out an operation to save everyone.
Divisions have deepened within Israel over how to bring the hostages home. Many have urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire announced last month by U.S. President Joe Biden, but far-right allies have threatened to bring down his government if he does. Hours after the rescue operation, thousands of Israelis gathered again to protest against the government, calling for a deal.
On Sunday, Benny Gantz, a popular centrist member of Israel's three-member war cabinet, resigned after challenging the government to adopt new war plans, a move that has left Netanyahu more reliant on his far-right allies.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is returning to the Middle East this week to seek a breakthrough in ceasefire efforts. U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN that mediators Egypt and Qatar have not yet received official news from Hamas about the proposed deal. In a separate interview with CBS, Sullivan did not say whether Biden would meet with Netanyahu when he arrives in Washington to address Congress next month.
International pressure is growing on Israel to limit civilian bloodshed in the Gaza war, as Palestinians face widespread hunger as the war and Israeli restrictions largely cut off aid flows.
“They killed us all,” said a Nusserat resident who witnessed Saturday's attack. The woman, Mounira, called for a ceasefire in a video shared by the United Nations on Sunday.
