Key Points
- Two Israeli hostages have been freed in Rafah in an operation by Israeli forces.
- 74 Palestinians were killed, according to the Palestine Authority's official television station.
- Aid groups and foreign governments are concerned about the potentially disastrous consequences of expanding operations
Israelis welcomed the rescue of two Gaza hostages, while fears of a looming ground incursion grew among more than a million Palestinians trapped in the war-ravaged territory's densely crowded far south.
Israel's top ally, the United States, said it would "not support a full-scale military operation" without protections for civilians in Rafah, where Israeli forces freed the captives in a dramatic overnight raid.
The AFP news agency reported the rare rescue mission, under heavy airstrikes, killed around 100 people in Rafah, citing the Gaza health ministry. The Palestinian Authority's official television station, Palestine TV, said 74 Palestinians were killed in the operation.
Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Luis Har, 70, had been held by militants since Hamas' 7 October attack that triggered the war.
They were freed amid an intense firefight and then airlifted to a hospital where a spokeswoman said "the signs of prolonged captivity ... are evident".
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed "a perfect operation", while the Palestinian foreign ministry said the deaths of dozens of Gazans amounted to a "massacre".
With international mediators working towards a truce and a hostage-prisoner exchange, Netanyahu said that only "continued military pressure, until complete victory, will result in the release of all our hostages".
"Luckily for us, as a family, they were saved tonight," said Har's son-in-law Idan Bejerano, praising the rescue of the two Argentinian-Israeli men.
"But I must say that the job is not done," Bejerano added, urging action to free the remaining hostages.
The IDF has freed two hostages from southern Gaza in a military operation. Source: AAP / IDF/EPA
Ibrahim Abu Jaber said he saw a building collapse, killing "40 to 50 people — displaced people, children, elderly" inside.
"What if the actual invasion took place?" he said. "I think the martyrs would be in the thousands."
Israel has bombarded Gaza since Hamas' 7 October attack in which more than 1,200 people were killed and over 240 hostages taken, according to the Israeli government.
More than 28,340 people have been killed in Gaza since 7 October, according to the Gaza health ministry.
The 7 October attack was a significant escalation in the long-standing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Hamas is a Palestinian political and military group, which has governed the Gaza Strip since the most recent elections in 2006.
Hamas stated aim is to establish a Palestinian state and stop the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, illegal under international law.
Hamas in its entirety is listed as a terrorist organisation by the European Union and seven other countries, including Australia.
In 2021 the International Criminal Court opened an investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes in the Palestinian territories dating back to 2014, including the recent attacks of both Israel and Hamas.
Weeks of talks towards a ceasefire have brought no results yet, but a source close to the negotiations told AFP plans were underway for a new meeting in Cairo on Tuesday.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group warned that "time is running out for the remaining hostages", urging the Israeli government to "exhaust every option on the table to release them".
Dozens of hostages were freed by Gaza militants, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, during a .
Miller said a new deal would have "tremendous" benefits for the release of further hostages but also "for the humanitarian effort in Gaza".
Netanyahu has vowed to send ground troops into Rafah, where about 1.4 million displaced Palestinians are struggling to survive in shelters and tent camps.
Aid groups and foreign governments have voiced deep concern over the potentially disastrous consequences of expanding operations in Rafah, which they say would worsen an already dire humanitarian situation.
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation reported "unprecedented levels" of "near famine-like conditions" in the besieged territory.
The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, said he was "deeply concerned by the reported bombardment and potential ground incursion by Israeli forces".
In a statement published on X, formerly Twitter, he said his office's investigation into the Gaza war is "being taken forward as a matter of the utmost urgency".
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron urged Israel to "stop and think seriously before it takes any further action" in Gaza.
The United Nation's human rights chief, Volker Türk, warned that "an extremely high number of civilians" would likely be killed or injured in a full Israeli incursion into Rafah.
