Israel raid frees two hostages held by Hamas
Israel freed 2 hostages taken by Hamas in the southern Gazan city of Rafah on February 12, Reuters reported.
The captives, named Fernando Simon Marman and Louis Hare (aged 60 and 70 respectively), are both of Israeli-Argentinian origin and were freed during an Israeli rescue mission in which 67 Palestinian civilians were killed in a 24-hour period.
The newly elected Argentinian government of Javier Milei, a strong supporter of Israel, thanked the Middle Eastern state for the release of the hostages who are said to be dual nationals.
Rafah, near the border with Egypt, is where just over 1 million Palestinians have relocated as a result of ruthless Israeli bombardments since the beginning of October.
The pummeling of the war-torn enclave has left nearly 29,000 dead and tens of thousands injured or feared missing underneath the rubble.
READ: Gaza: Mass displacement stokes Egyptian fears
Since October 7, the IDF claimed that 30 hostages have died and far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israeli forces should continue its belligerent ground assault in Rafah given the rescuing of the two hostages, undeterred by the strong concerns of the international community towards such an operation.
The city has been turned into rubble, a couple of mosques has been demolished and contrary to the Israeli narrative, the overwhelming number of those killed are civilians and not Hamas militants.
On February 13, a top United Nations official warned that a full-blown ground assault would lead to a slaughter.
The world body’s Humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths noted that Gazans were already enduring an “assault that is unparalleled in its intensity, brutality and scope” as well as stressing that a Rafah invasion would be “catastrophic”.
A spokesperson for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also noted that the body, “will not be party to any forced displacement of people (in Rafah)”.
Prior to Israel’s war on Gaza, Rafah was home to 250,000 people but has now increased to 1.5 million.
Following talks with Jordan’s King Abdullah II on February 12, President Biden said that “no major military operation in Rafah should proceed without a credible plan to ensure the safety and support for the more than one million people sheltering there”.
Levantis.me
