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“Israeli forces rescued four hostages alive from two locations in the central Gaza area of al-Nuseirat on Saturday, the military said, eight months after they were kidnapped by Hamas-led militants…
“Israel's chief military spokesman said the rescue operation was held under fire in the heart of a residential neighbourhood, where he said Hamas had been concealing hostages among Gaza civilians under the armed guard of militants.” Reuters
“Israeli Defense Forces and Gaza's Ministry of Health have each released dramatically different numbers of deaths and injuries related to the operation… Israeli Defense Forces said that the casualties from the raid were ‘less than 100’ while the Ministry of Health announced 274 deaths… [US] National security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday that the U.S. is still working to learn how many were killed.” Axios
The left condemns the civilian suffering in Gaza and calls for both sides to agree to a ceasefire.
“As the Israeli forces withdrew with four hostages in tow, they left death and destruction in their wake. The authorities in Gaza announced that 274 people, including 64 children and 57 women, had been killed, with more than 400 injuries…
“‘There is nothing, nothing at all that justifies what I saw today,’ [Doctors Without Borders supervisor Karin] Huster said. Nothing. These children — the 3-month-old, the 7-year-old, the 12-year-old who died — the 25-year-old man, the 78-year-old woman, who all have horrendous injuries,’ she continued. ‘Why did they deserve this? And why is the world looking on in silence? To what level of horror do we need to go before we finally do something, before we finally tell Israel that this is not acceptable?’”
Shrouq Aila, The Intercept
“Everyone killed Saturday would likely still be alive if Hamas’s forces had not seized hostages — as part of an operation on Oct. 7 in which they also intentionally killed hundreds of civilians — and deliberately held them in a densely populated area. Equally certain… is the fact that the civilian body count in Gaza was already far too high… If hostilities continue, at least 1 million Palestinians in Gaza are at risk of starvation by the middle of July…
“These numbers bespeak immense human suffering — especially for Gaza’s children — and the urgency of halting the fighting. There is a way to achieve that, at least temporarily: the plan President Biden unveiled, under which a six-week truce would enable a surge of humanitarian aid and an initial exchange of Hamas’s hostages (Israel believes 41 of the 116 are dead) for hundreds of Palestinian militants held in Israeli prisons, as well as an Israeli pullback from populated areas.”
Editorial Board, Washington Post
“[The proposed ceasefire] has a far greater chance of freeing those hostages that remain than a continuation of the war. As Michael Koplow, chief analyst for the Israel Policy Forum, pointed out, the IDF has killed enough terrorists, blown up enough tunnels, secured enough intelligence and captured enough weapons to afford Israel some breathing room…
“The fact that mainstream American Jewish groups are not joining with the majority of Israelis and actively and loudly pushing for a deal is shameful. The fact that so-called progressives and pro-Palestinian groups aren’t demanding Hamas compromise on a deal is also shameful. People who are justifiably anguished by the innocent Palestinian women and children killed during the raid need to raise their voices to convince Hamas, which has yet to accept the deal, to say yes.”
Rob Eshman, Forward
The right celebrates the rescue, arguing that Hamas bears the responsibility for civilian casualties.
The right celebrates the rescue, arguing that Hamas bears the responsibility for civilian casualties.
“In a sane world, the rescue would have been cause for global celebration: the deliverance of captives from the hands of monstrous Islamist killers. Instead? Outrage from United Nations and European Union functionaries that Israel dared to act at all — because Palestinians died in the course of the rescue…
“This moral fog has persisted since Israel began to fight back against a group proudly and publicly devoted to its destruction and the mass murder of its citizens. So let’s be clear. Hamas, and Hamas alone, bears responsibility for these civilian deaths. The group hid the hostages in Gaza’s Nuseirat market area precisely to ensure this outcome; anyone arguing that such deaths are a stain on Israel is doing the work of would-be genocidaires.”
Editorial Board, New York Post
“The ‘Health Ministry’ [in Gaza] makes no distinction between terrorists and civilians, and in this case there might be little difference. [According to the IDF] Among those holding the Israelis hostage in their homes in Nuseirat, for instance, were a ‘journalist’ (who apparently worked for Al Jazeera and the U.S.-based Palestine Chronicle, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit) and a ‘doctor.’…
“The entire neighborhood was ostensibly under UN control. We already know that UN workers had likely participated in the Oct. 7 kidnappings and UNRWA schools are used by Hamas bases of operation.”
David Harsanyi, The Federalist
“Hamas broke cease-fires with Israel in 2003, in 2007 and in 2008. Hamas broke at least nine short-lived truces in 2014; one of them fell apart in less than two hours. Then, this past November, while Israel and Hamas were negotiating an extension of a week-long cease-fire that included a trade of captured prisoners for hostages, Hamas claimed responsibility for a deadly gun attack at a busy bus stop in west Jerusalem that killed three Israelis…
“Are you starting to see the pattern here?… [Hamas is] not interested in a peace deal, it’s not interested in a cease-fire, and if it has any interest in releasing any hostages, it’s hiding it exceptionally well…
“Even if you still believe that Hamas can be talked into releasing hostages, rescue operations such as the one on Saturday are necessary and a useful tactic to remind the leaders of Hamas that there are deadly consequences to their intransigence. Those hostages are coming home one way or another. You can send them back in exchange for some concessions at the negotiating table, or you can have the IDF kick down your door and come in shooting.”
Jim Geraghty, Washington Post
