Israeli hostage rescue operation kills 274 Palestinians [Video]

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — At least 274 Palestinians, including dozens of children, were killed, and hundreds more were wounded, in the Israeli raid that rescued four hostages held by Hamas, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Sunday. The Israeli military said its forces came under heavy fire during the complex daytime operation deep in central Gaza.

The killing of so many Palestinians, in a raid that Israelis celebrated as a stunning success because all four hostages were rescued, showed the heavy cost of such operations on top of the already soaring toll of the 8-month-old war ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.

The operation in Nuseirat, a built-up refugee camp dating to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, was the largest rescue since Oct. 7, when Hamas and other militants stormed across the border, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, …