Tuesday Briefing: Israel Strikes Gaza to Rescue Hostages

Strikes and rescues in Rafah

The Israeli military said it had launched a wave of attacks to divert attention and provide cover for a raid by special operations forces that successfully rescued two hostages in Rafah, in Southern Gaza. Gaza’s health ministry said dozens of Palestinians were killed in the crowded city, where more than a million displaced people have sought shelter.

Here’s the latest.

The two men who were rescued — Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70 — are dual citizens of Israel and Argentina. They were in good condition and were undergoing tests at a hospital in Tel Aviv, Israeli authorities said. It was only the second known rescue of captives in Gaza since the war began.

Palestinians described a “night full of horror” as Israel bombed the city. The director of a hospital there said that it had received 100 injured people overnight, along with the bodies of 52 who were killed. The Gazan health ministry said that at least 67 people had been killed overall, a number that could not be independently verified.

The rescue came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled that Israeli ground forces would soon enter Rafah, despite criticism and concern from the U.S. and other allies. The prospect of street battles inside the city, which is bracketed by a closed Egyptian border, has created worldwide alarm over the risks to civilians.

An orphan’s story: Dareen al-Bayaa, 11, lost dozens of her family members in a single airstrike in Gaza. In a video, she speaks with The Times about her grief and her recovery.