US praises rescue of 4 Israelis in Gaza attack that Hamas says killed 210 Palestinians

By Zehra Nur Duz

ANKARA (AA) - The US administration described as a "successful operation" the rescue of four Israeli captives from the Gaza Strip in an attack, which Hamas said killed at least 210 Palestinians.

"Now they are safe and reunited with their families," said National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, applauding the efforts of the Israeli security forces that conducted the operation.

"The US is supporting all efforts to secure the release of hostages still held by Hamas, including American citizens. This includes through ongoing negotiations or other means," he said.

Sullivan stressed that the proposed agreement for releasing hostages and implementing a cease-fire would ensure the liberation of all remaining captives, provide security guarantees for Israel, and offer assistance to the innocent civilians in Gaza.

Earlier, the Israeli army announced that it launched attacks on various locations in the central part of the Gaza Strip and had successfully rescued a total of 4 Israeli captives alive from two different areas.

Citing a US official, CNN reported that an American unit in Israel aided the efforts to rescue four Israeli hostages in the central Gaza strip.

The Hamas-run Government Media Office said that at least 210 Palestinians were killed and more than 400 injured on Saturday in severe Israeli airstrikes targeting Nuseirat refugee camp, areas east of Deir al-Balah, and al-Bureij and al-Maghazi camps in central Gaza, coinciding with a sudden incursion of vehicles east and northwest of Nuseirat.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since a Hamas attack last Oct. 7 despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 36,800 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 83,500 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.