Israeli troops performed a minimum of one focused raid in the Gaza Strip on Friday in a failed try to rescue hostages held by Hamas, either side mentioned, making competing claims about deaths and accidents inflicted.
The Israeli army and the army wing of Hamas gave differing accounts, leaving it unclear whether or not they have been describing the identical rescue try or two separate occasions.
Two Israeli troopers have been significantly wounded in a rescue mission that didn’t recuperate any hostages, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the chief spokesman for the army, informed reporters.
“The forces raided a Hamas site and eliminated terrorists who had taken part in the abduction and captivity of hostages,” he mentioned.
In a press release, Al-Qassam Brigades, the army wing of Hamas, described discovering an Israeli workforce making an attempt to make its method undetected to free an Israeli soldier. In the ensuing battle, the assertion mentioned, “many soldiers were wounded,” the hostage was killed, and an Israeli rifle and radio have been recovered.
“As a result, Israeli warplanes targeted the whole area with heavy airstrikes in order to let the special force find a way out,” the assertion mentioned.
The Israelis referred to a number of hostages and didn’t determine any of them as troops. Neither aspect acknowledged struggling any fatalities.
Admiral Hagari mentioned that the army was working regularly with Shin Bet, Israel’s home safety company, to decide the place hostages have been being held and by whom, and to plan rescue missions.
Israeli forces have reported only one earlier focused raid to recuperate a hostage, in late October. That raid resulted in releasing one girl, Ori Megidish, a 19-year-old Israeli soldier.
Hamas and different teams kidnapped greater than 240 individuals throughout the Oct. 7 assault on Israel, in accordance to Israeli officers, who estimate that greater than 130 stay held in Gaza. More than 100 have been launched, primarily ladies and kids, and some are believed to have died in captivity. Hamas contends {that a} quantity of hostages have been killed in Israeli airstrikes.
