Israel is confirming that an IDF special forces operation to rescue several hostages ended in failure. The IDF says two soldiers were seriously wounded. Hamas claims that the rescue involved one military hostage who was killed in the action along with several Israeli soldiers.
The two sides give such contrasting stories of what happened that some observers say they may be describing two different rescue attempts. The IDF will only confirm that the rescue attempt failed and that two soldiers were wounded.
“The troops raided a Hamas site, killed terrorists who took part in the abduction and holding of the hostages,” said IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari.
“We will continue to act in a number of ways, operationally and with intelligence, with the Shin Bet, to bring all the hostages back home, and to obtain information on them,” Hagari said.
Hamas released a statement that was far different than the IDF's.
A video clip attributed to Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades and posted on X by the Palestine Chronicle purportedly showed the aftermath of the battle, including bloodstains and spent shell casings on a set of stairs.
The bloody body of a bearded young man with grisly wounds to his face and head was also shown lying on a blanket, as was a clip of what appeared to be the same man speaking in Hebrew at some point before his death.
The rescue attempt comes as the IDF is pushing into southern Gaza strongholds of Hamas.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said there were increasing “signs that indicate [Hamas] is beginning to break in Gaza.”
“Our troops are operating in the heart of Hamas’s strongholds in south and northern Gaza simultaneously, in Jabaliya, Shejaiya, and in the Khan Younis area,” he said.
General Hagari gave an upbeat assessment of how the war was going.
“We are engaged in fierce battles with Hamas terrorists, who hide underground. We are killing many terrorists, and seeing more and more terrorists surrendering in battle, and turning themselves into our forces,” Hagari said, adding that in the last 48 hours, the IDF had arrested more than 200 suspects in the Gaza Strip.
“Dozens of them have been handed over for interrogation by the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504 and Shin Bet in Israel, including Hamas commanders and Nukhba operatives,” Hagari said.
The IDF has flushed out several Hamas units taking cover in schools. This is expressly forbidden under the rules that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and the UN operate in Gaza.
Times of Israel military correspondent Mannie Fabian obtained some incredible footage of the IDF clearing a Palestinian school of Hamas fighters in southern Gaza.
The IDF releases dramatic footage of troops of the elite LOTAR Unit battling Hamas operatives in a school in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood.
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) December 8, 2023
According to the IDF, troops of the 188th Armored Brigade’s 74th Battalion, along with the LOTAR soldiers, encountered a Hamas cell as… pic.twitter.com/gZZrWwDtlz
Expect these hostage rescue missions to increase in number as the IDF penetrates further into southern Gaza and their sources of intelligence get better and become more numerous.
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