How Israel's hostage rescue and deadly assault in central Gaza unfolded (2024)

Israel has carried out its largest hostage rescue operation since the latest war with Hamas began, taking four to safety out of central Gaza in a heavy air and ground assault.

Unlike past rescue missions, the one on Saturday was carried out during the day for the element of surprise, Israel's military said.

At least 210 Palestinians were killed and more than 400 others were injured, the Hamas-run government media office in Gaza said, prompting condemnation from neighbouring countries.

Israel's military spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said special forces had spent weeks of intense training to prepare for the rescue, which had been a "high-risk, complex mission based on precise intelligence".

Hostages Noa Argamani, 25, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv were taken to hospital in a "good medical condition", the military said. They were all kidnapped from the Nova music festival during Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel.

At the same time, Gazan medics and residents said the military assault left the mangled bodies of dozens of men, women and children strewn around a marketplace and mosque.

Here's what we know about how Israel's operation unfolded.

Daytime mission

The rescue operation and deadly air assault took place at about 11am in central Gaza's al-Nuseirat, which is a densely built-up area with a Palestinian refugee camp.

Rear Admiral Hagari said the rescue operation happened in the heart of a residential neighbourhood where Hamas had kept the four hostages in two separate apartment blocks.

The female hostage was kept in one building, while the three male hostages were kept in another building about 200 metres away.

Rear Admiral Hagari said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had trained repeatedly on a model of the apartment buildings and had moved on them simultaneously in broad daylight to ensure the element of surprise.

In video footage posted by the IDF on social media, the rescued men appear to be led to a helicopter by eight soldiers.

In another IDF video, Ms Argamani appears to climb onto a second helicopter.

All of the hostages were flown to hospital for medical checks in Israel's Tel Aviv and were reunited with their loved ones, Rear Admiral Hagari said.

Israeli News 12 broadcast footage of Ms Argamani reunited with her father, smiling and embracing him.

She was also shown speaking by phone to Israeli President Isaac Herzog from hospital, in footage released by the president's office.

"Thank you for everything, thank you for this moment," she said.

Mr Herzog responded by welcoming her home. "I am so excited to hear your voice, it brings tears to my eyes," he said.

The four people rescued were among 251 hostages seized during Hamas' October 7 attack.

More than 100 of them were released in exchange for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli jails during a one-week truce in November.

Before Saturday, only three other captives were freed in Israeli military raids.

There are now 116 hostages still held in the Palestinian territory, including 41 that the Israeli army says are dead.

A bloody assault

A different picture unfolded for Palestinians in al-Nuseirat, where health officials and local medics said the Israeli military assault had killed scores of people.

Rear Admiral Hagari said Israeli forces had come under fire during the rescue mission and responded by firing "from the air and from the street".

"We know about under 100 (Palestinian) casualties. I don't know how many from them are terrorists," he said in a press briefing.

The Hamas-run government media office in Gaza said the death toll had risen to at least 210 Palestinians with more than 400 others injured.

AP reporters at the scene saw a baby was among the dead. Small children were also seen wailing, covered in blood.

Ziad, 45, a paramedic and resident of al-Nuseirat, who gave only his first name, said the Israeli strikes focused on a local marketplace and the al-Awda mosque.

"It was like a horror movie but this was a real massacre," he said.

"To free four people, Israel killed dozens of innocent civilians."

Neighbouring Egypt condemned "with the strongest terms" Israel's strikes, with its ministry calling it a "flagrant violation of all rules of international law". Neighbouring Jordan also condemned it.

"The bloodbath must end immediately," the European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on the social platform X, citing reports of civilian deaths.

Israel's military said it had attacked "threats to our forces in the area," adding that one Israeli commando died during the operation.

Emergency response teams tried to carry dead and injured Palestinians to hospital in the nearby city of Deir al-Balah, but many bodies were still lying in the streets, Ziad and other residents said.

Hamas' October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel's retaliatory air strikes and ground offensive on Gaza have killed at least 36,801 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, according to Gaza's health ministry.

ABC/wires