IDF says under 100 Palestinian casualties, including terrorists, in rescue op; Hamas claims 210 ‘martyrs’

IDF Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari says its forces came under intense fire during the rescue operation in Gaza’s Nuseirat and that they responded by firing “from the air and from the street.”

“We know about under 100 [Palestinian] casualties. I don’t know how many of them are terrorists,” he says in a briefing with journalists, reported by Reuters.

According to AFP, the Hamas media office claims “210 martyrs” were killed and over 400 injured, and accuses the IDF of a “massacre” and of engaging in “brutal and savage aggression on Nuseirat camp.” The terror group’s figures cannot be verified and do not distinguish between its own gunmen and civilians.

Reuters quotes Gazan paramedics and residents saying scores of people were killed in the operation.

The IDF has said that the four hostages were held in the homes of Gaza families in two Hamas-controlled buildings.