Several hostages killed in Israeli attacks on central Gaza, says Hamas

Israeli forces on Saturday rescued four hostages from the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, where, according to Palestinian sources, a bloody Israeli assault took place, killing at least 210 people and wounding more than 400 others.

Israel "by committing horrific massacres, was able to free some of its hostages, yet it killed some others during the operation," Hamas armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades' spokesperson Abu Obaida said in a statement on his Telegram channel.

"The operation will pose a great danger to the enemy's prisoners and will have a negative impact on their conditions and lives," Abu Obaida said in the statement.

Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas political bureau, also condemned the deadly Israeli strike, stressing that the Palestinian people "will not surrender, and the resistance will continue to defend their rights."

An Israeli military spokesperson said the operation took place in the heart of a residential neighborhood in al-Nuseirat, where Hamas had kept the hostages in two separate apartment blocks. Israeli forces came under intense fire during the assault and responded by firing "from the air and from the street," said the spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the hostage rescue operation had been planned for weeks and was jointly carried out by the army, the police's elite unit and the intelligence body Shin Bet.

"We know (of) about under 100 (Palestinian) casualties. I don't know how many from them are terrorists," he said in a briefing with journalists. An Israeli special forces commander was killed during the operation, a police statement said.

The rescued hostages were identified as Noa Argamani, 25; Shlomi Ziv, 40; Almog Meir Jan, 21; and Andrey Kozlov, 27, all of whom were abducted last October by Hamas while attending the Nova festival, an outdoor music event, in a rural area near the Gaza-Israel fence.

In the wake of the operation, Israel's wartime cabinet minister, Benny Gantz, postponed his expected resignation announcement, which was planned for Saturday evening.

On May 18, Gantz threatened to resign from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government on June 8 if the cabinet did not formulate an action plan to secure Gaza war goals, including the return of hostages and the elimination of Hamas.

In a statement on Saturday evening, Netanyahu urged Gantz not to step down, stressing, "We must remain united in the face of the great tasks ahead of us."

Gantz replied in a video, saying, "The challenges Israel faces remain as they were, and therefore, I say to the prime minister and the entire leadership, even today, we must look responsibly at how it is right and possible to continue from here."

Meanwhile, on Saturday night, tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Israel's Tel Aviv for the release of the remaining hostages and against the government.

The police declared the demonstration illegal and announced the arrest of 10 protesters on suspicion of violating public order, according to a police statement.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has instructed Palestine's envoy to the United Nations (UN) to request an emergency session of the UN Security Council to discuss the repercussions of the Israeli attacks in central Gaza, the official Palestinian news agency, WAFA, reported on Saturday.

Abbas is engaged in intensive diplomatic efforts with Arab and international stakeholders to convene the emergency session, the aim of which is to address the "ongoing Israeli aggression" against the Palestinian people and compel Israel to comply with the resolutions of international legitimacy, WAFA said.

Abbas emphasized the urgent need for international intervention to halt the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza and the West Bank, adding that Israel continues to exploit "international silence and U.S. support" to "perpetrate crimes," according to the report.

Since its onset last October, the deadly conflict between Israel and Gaza-ruling Hamas has led to 36,801 Palestinians killed and 83,680 others injured, local health authorities said in an update on Friday.

(With input from agencies)