Hamas says 210 killed in Gaza camp where hostages rescued

Gaza Strip (AFP): Hamas’s government media office said at least 210 people were killed Saturday in Israeli attacks on a central Gaza refugee camp from which four hostages were rescued.

“The number of victims from the Israeli occupation’s massacre in the Nuseirat camp has risen to 210 martyrs and more than 400 wounded,” the press office said in a statement.

It came after the Israeli army announced the rescue of four Israeli hostages in Nuseirat earlier Saturday in an operation that they said took place “under fire”.

The army named the rescued hostages as Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41.

Earlier on Saturday the military said in a separate statement that forces were “targeting terrorist infrastructure in the area of Nuseirat”.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh vowed to keep fighting after the Israeli attack on the camp.

“Our people will not surrender, and the resistance will continue to defend our rights in the face of this criminal enemy,” Haniyeh said in a statement.

The Hamas government had in an earlier statement reported a toll of 94 killed in and around Nuseirat, adding that they had been taken to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ hospital in Deir al-Balah.

It said the hospital was “unable to accomodate the number of martyrs and wounded”, appealing for the international community and aid organisations for help.