(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . A Deadly Hostage Rescue [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-16 Four Israeli hostages — three men and one woman — were rescued in Gaza on Saturday, June 8, but at what cost to the peopie around them? At least 274 Palestinian men, women and children at the Nuseirat refugee camp were killed in the ensuing battle and hundreds were wounded, according to an article posted on June 15 in Informed Comment (Professor Juan Cole’s blog). The article gives these details: It was intended as a golden operation and had been months in the making. The logistics that led to the bloodbath had been rehearsed with detail verging on the manic. Two buildings were constructed for training purposes. Participants involved the special counter-terrorism unit Yamam, Israel’s internal security agency Shin Bet, and members of the Israel Defence Forces . . . A high casualty rate would have already been contemplated given the remarks of the IDF spokesman: “We understood that in those apartments with those guards, daytime will be the ultimate surprise.” The IDF claimed no civilian trucks were used in the rescue, but the article says Palestinian witnesses saw men in plainclothes and ten heavily armed soldiers arrive in undercover vehicles, one “very much resembling those used by Israel to traffic commercial goods into Gaza; another being a white Mercedes truck packed and stacked with furniture and miscellaneous belongings typical of the dislocated and dispossessed.” Hamas guards responsible for the three male hostages were not caught by surprise and “engaged” the rescuers. The article quotes an Israeli officer highlighted in the Washington Post who said: “Immediately, it became a war zone.” The Informed Comment article continues: Death reigned at Nuseirat for some 75 minutes, concealed by the now standard refrain by the IDF: “Aircraft struck dozens of military targets for the success of the operation.” A Palestinian witness quoted in the article said: “The area turned to ashes… I couldn’t find my wife and started calling out to those around me to ensure they were still alive.” Another witness said the military operation by Israeli forces looked more like “a mass execution.” A witness writing in the Intercept wrote of "drones quipped with small arms, Apache attack helicopters hovering, homes hit with missiles." The article quotes Al Jazeera: “The wounded were taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, an already overwhelmed facility.” Medics were in utter despair. It also quotes the UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, who expressed relief that four hostages were rescued, but said the enterprise “should not have come at the expense of at least 200 Palestinians including children killed, and over 400 injured.” Quoting the New York Times, the article says the entire operation was “buttressed by intelligence and other logistical support” from the United States, and two Israeli intelligence officials confirmed that “American military officials in Israel provided some of the intelligence about the hostages rescued [on] Saturday.” The article adds: “Let us not forget military hardware, readily supplied from US defense companies.” ------------------------ Other sources on the hostage rescue: Associated Press: How an Israeli raid freed 4 hostages and killed at least 274 Palestinians in Gaza, Washington Post — free link: Inside Israel’s hostage rescue: Secret plans and a deadly ‘wall of fire’ The Intercept: Inside the Nuseirat Massacre: This Is the Carnage I Saw During Israel’s Hostage Rescue [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/16/2246872/-A-Deadly-Hostage-Rescue?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/