How the rescue of Israeli hostages in Gaza unfolded

Four hostages were rescued by the Israeli military from central Gaza, in an operation that had been planned for weeks.

For Israelis, it brought celebration and relief. For Palestinians, this has brought more suffering, with hospitals reporting that dozens of people – including children – were killed in the attack on the densely populated Nuseirat camp.

Nicknamed “Seeds of Summer”, the attack was carried out in an unusual daylight hours – which, according to the Israel Defense Forces, allowed for a better element of surprise.

The mid-morning time meant the streets were busy with people shopping at a nearby market.

It also meant a greater risk for Israeli special forces, not only getting in, but especially getting out.

A special forces officer was injured and died in hospital, Israel police said.

“It was on a scale like Entebbe,” according to IDF chief spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari referencing Israel’s rescue of 100 hostages in Uganda in 1976.

Acting on intelligence, and after crossing Gaza from Israel, he said specialized commandos simultaneously raided two residential apartments in Nuseirat where the hostages were being held.

In an apartment was hostage Noa Argamani, 26 years old. In the other were Shlomi Ziv, 41, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Almog Meir Jan, 22.

Hagari said they were not in cages, but in locked rooms surrounded by guards.

He said Israeli commandos, after forcing entry, captured the hostages, wrapping them around to provide protective shields before placing them in military vehicles outside.

As they left, he said they faced stiff resistance from Palestinian fighters.

Hagari said the Israeli military planned the attack in detail, even building models of the two apartments for training.

Cellphone video of the scene shows people diving for cover as missiles whistle and shots are fired.

Later images showed bodies strewn across the street.

The attack clearly involved massive force. Doctors at the two hospitals in central Gaza said they had counted more than 70 bodies.

Hagari estimated fewer than a hundred, while Hamas’ media office said more than 200 people were killed.

The BBC was unable to verify the number of victims.

“I collected the body parts of my son, my dear son,” Nora Abu Khamees, sheltering in Nuseirat, told the BBC as she cried.

“My other son is between life and death. Even my husband and mother-in-law, our entire family is destroyed. This is genocide.”

Ten-year-old Areej Al Zahdneh, speaking at a nearby hospital, told us there had been airstrikes, tanks and gunfire.

“We couldn’t breathe. My sister Reemaz was hit in the head by shrapnel and my five-year-old sister Yara was also hit by shrapnel.”