‘Failure of the negotiations’: Israel’s hostage rescue leads to one of the bloodiest days in the war

Original Article:

Source: Link

In Israel, the news of four hostages rescued from Gaza was met with cheering crowds and tearful scenes of reuniting families. Officials hailed the operation as miraculous and heroic, and offered a rare win for Israel's embattled Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. But it came at the expense of hundreds of Palestinians, who suffered one of the bloodiest days in Gaza. Video filmed by an NBC News crew on the ground showed streets scattered with charred bodies, survivors gathering body parts into sacks, rescuers carrying mangled and blood-soaked children into chaotic hospitals overwhelmed with the injured. By Sunday, joy in Israel was fading and giving way to the realities of a war that has dragged on for nine months and whose fissures and deep divisions remained largely unchanged by the rescue. Freed hostage Almog Meir Jan, 21, arrives by helicopter Saturday at the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, Israel. Tomer Appelbaum / AP “What we saw yesterday is actually failure of the negotiations,” Yossi Mekelberg, an associate fellow with the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House, said in a phone interview with NBC News. “Had there been a cease-fire, these hostages would already have been at home, and the civilians that were killed yesterday would be alive," Mekelberg said. The destruction wrought during the rescue is unlikely to ease Israel's isolation from an international community that has censured Israel for months over the civilian death toll in Gaza. United Nations Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese said in a statement that she was “Relieved that four hostages have been released," but that “it should not have come at the expense of Palestinians.” Injured Palestinians are brought to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital after the Israeli operation in central Gaza on Saturday. Anadolu via Getty Images “Israel has used hostages to legitimize killing, injuring, maiming, starving and traumatizing Palestinians in Gaza,” she said. At home, opposition leader Benny Gantz was expected to resign from Israel’s war cabinet on Saturday over Netanyahu’s failure to adopt a postwar plan. Gantz delayed his statement after the rescue and Netanyahu asked him not to leave the emergency government in a post on X. But the delay may be brief. Gantz will be making a statement on Sunday evening, where he is expected to announce his resignation and withdraw his National Unity Party from the coalition. If he does so, it would leave Netanyahu to rely on support from far-right members of his government who have loudly opposed a cease-fire deal, including the one proposed by President Joe Biden earlier this month. As of Sunday, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said at least 270 people were killed, pushing the overall death toll past 37,000. Another 700 were injured in the assault and rescue operation, and more were believed to be buried in the rubble. Video from an NBC News crew on the ground captured the aftermath in Nuseirat that included a rush of wounded at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, including the bodies of surviving children wrapped in gauze that was soaked pink.