What we know, and its deadly effect

For Palestinians in Nuseirat refugee camp, the dramatic daytime raid that freed four Hamas hostages within hours ended — after gunfire and Hellfire missiles left bodies strewn in the streets.

But for the IDF, it was the end of what appeared to be a longer operation: Special forces known to blend in among Gazans had been operating in the area in the days before Saturday’s surprise attack, centered on a program on the IDF’s Telegram channel.

The Israeli army is now facing scrutiny over the effects of death and destruction left behind by the operation. It published some details about how Almog Meir Gan (21 years old), Andrei Kozlov (27 years old), Shlomi Ziv (40 years old), and Noa Argamani (26 years old) – “the diamonds” as they called them – were released.

While there was jubilation in homes and streets across Israel, there was intense pain in Gaza, where health officials said at least 274 people, including dozens of children, were killed during the raid. The Israeli army estimated the death toll at less than 100 on Saturday. This number has not been updated since then.

The attack has forced two groups of residents to reckon with the ongoing war, now in its ninth month, with health officials in the Strip saying the death toll has exceeded 37,000 and more than 100 hostages still being held in Gaza.

Raid during the day

The raid on the Nuseirat refugee camp began at 11 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET) last Saturday morning, Admiral Daniel Hagari, an IDF spokesman, said in a video news conference shortly after the raid. He added that carrying out the raid at that time gave the forces the element of surprise.

Paratrooper The combat reconnaissance unit team led the operation. The Israeli army said in a post on Telegram on Sunday. It said members of its Kfir Brigade Combat Team had been operating “for several days in the area,” along with paratroopers and special forces from the Duvdevan unit, which the IDF described on its website as operating “openly and covertly among the local Arab population.” “.

The Israeli military did not comment when asked by NBC News whether any of the soldiers involved in the operation were wearing civilian clothes or other disguises, but the Israeli military has a long history of using such forces.

An Israeli police spokesman said that the Israeli Police’s National Counter-Terrorism Unit, known as “Al-Yamam”, also participated in the raid, and one of its members, Chief Inspector Arnon Zamora, was seriously injured and later died of his wounds.

The Israeli military on Monday released helmet camera footage of the raid, which NBC News geolocated to an apartment building on a side road of the main shopping street that bisects Nuseirat.

In the video, officers appear to ask the hostages their names before Kozlov is heard shouting “Andrei” as the two men raise their hands, visibly shaking.

The video then appears to indicate their escape from the building. At this point, a timestamp appears showing 10:15 AM. When asked why the footage was taken 45 minutes before Hagari said the operation would begin, Israeli police referred NBC News to the Israeli military, which declined to comment.

Hajjari said at the press conference that the apartment where Argamani was held was about 220 yards from the apartment where the other three hostages were held, adding that the buildings were three to four stories high. He said both had families living and armed guards inside. Hajari said that the Israeli army launched raids on the two apartments simultaneously.

He did not explain how Israeli forces made their way to Nuseirat, and it is unclear why the Israeli army did not share a video of the raid to free Argamani, who became a symbol of the hostage crisis after a video of her kidnapping from the Nova music festival. Shared around the world.

Hagari said that the Israeli army came under heavy fire after withdrawing from the apartments, but did not provide evidence for his claims.

Air attack “without warning”

Store owner Abdul Rahman Al-Tahawy told NBC News on Sunday that he saw a medium-sized truck entering the area with other vehicles. He said that the forces removed two ladders from the truck and arrived at the building before leaving with people he described as “prisoners.”

A video shared widely on social media and geolocated by NBC News to the same location shows a white Mercedes-Benz 519 CDI truck parked outside the building next to what looks like a ladder on the wall and a body on the ground. A video filmed later that day shows the building completely destroyed, with part of the truck visible under the rubble.

The United Nations described the raid as “heinous,” and said in a statement that the Israeli army “entered Nuseirat disguised as displaced persons and relief workers in a humanitarian truck.”

“These methods place relief workers and the delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid at greater risk and reveal an unprecedented level of brutality in Israeli military actions,” the statement said. The Israeli military did not comment to NBC News on this matter.

Al-Tahawi said that the forces “left the place under heavy cover of fire,” and then bombed several homes. He added that in what seemed like one minute, “more than 20” people were killed in the street.

In a separate interview on Sunday, Khalil Al-Kahlot said it was around 11:30 a.m. when suddenly “planes started shooting and people were lying in the street, without warning.”

The IDF said in a statement on Telegram on Sunday that members of the Israeli Air Force’s specialized Shaldag unit directed “air strikes and active gunfire throughout the operation,” along with members of the police’s Yamam unit. The Israeli army did not comment when asked by NBC News about the targeted targets and why the targets were chosen.

Gunfire and explosions could be heard across a square mile northeast of the camp in video verified by NBC News. Another clip showed two missiles approaching from different directions and hitting a bus station where people had set up temporary shelters. People can be seen fleeing the area, although the footage does not show the aftermath of the raid.

Separate footage captured by an NBC News crew on the ground shortly after Saturday’s raid showed bodies scattered in the streets of Nuseirat, one of them burned near a car.

Hellfire missiles

Analysis of missile fragments photographed by an NBC News crew being collected by residents showed they were pieces of AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles, according to Richard Weir, a weapons researcher at Human Rights Watch.

He said he came to that conclusion based on the weight listed on the debris and orange balls called air collectors found by residents.

Former British Army Major Chris Cobb-Smith, an arms and munitions expert, said they were “almost certainly” Hellfire missiles.

Hellfire are precision-guided air-to-surface missiles that can be launched from helicopters and other aircraft.

The United States approved Israel’s purchase of 3,000 Hellfire missiles in 2015. But the State Department did not comment when asked by NBC News on Friday about providing missiles to Israel since then. A UN spokesman said: “We do not have the ability to verify the use of specific munitions in conflicts in which the United States is not a party.” They added: “We will allow the Israeli army to talk about the weapons used in its operation.”

Military contractor Lockheed Martin owns a registered trademark and patents for the missiles, and Ware said they were designed and developed in Orlando, Florida, and manufactured at facilities in several states including Texas and Alabama.

Lockheed Martin said in a statement that foreign military sales are “government-to-government transactions, and we work closely with the U.S. government on any military sales to international customers.” She added that questions regarding Israel’s use of American platforms “would be better addressed by the American or Israeli government.”

‘Absolute massacre’

Maureen Kaki, a Palestinian-American from San Antonio, Texas, was working at Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia “when we heard kind of explosions and gunfire, just a variety of sounds that were obviously very close.”

It wasn’t long before victims “started pouring in,” Kaki, a logistical coordinator at Canada-based Glea Healthcare, said Thursday. She added that she was disturbed to see “a lot of women and a lot of young people” among them.

Travis Mellen, MD, an anesthesiologist and critical care physician from Portland, Oregon, was stationed at Shuhada Al-Aqsa Hospital as part of the CADUS International Disaster Response Team.

He said in an interview on Thursday that he heard explosions around 10 or 11 a.m. local time, and the hospital was filled with victims shortly after. He added that what was most surprising was the number of children among them. “For me, this was an absolute massacre of civilians and young people,” he said.

More than 37,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to local health officials, since Israel launched its assault on the Strip following the October 7 Hamas attacks, in which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 others were taken hostage, according to Israel. Officials.

More than 100 people are believed to remain captive, including Argamani’s friend, Avenatan Or. At least a quarter of them are believed to have died, according to Israeli officials.

As strikes fell from the air, the Israeli military told NBC News that a vehicle carrying the three hostages broke down while under fire, forcing commandos to hastily load the hostages into a separate vehicle before transferring them to a waiting helicopter. The Israeli army refused to comment on whether the car broke down or was damaged during the exchange of fire.

Aseel Jaber Jameel, 28 years old, said that the car looked “ordinary” and could be used to transport displaced people or transport goods. When it stopped, he added, “its members started shooting like crazy.”

The Israeli army also released a video of a helicopter transporting Argamani to safety. A second photo showed the three hostages being transported by air.

As they took off from the beach near a pier built by the United States to help facilitate the delivery of aid to Gaza, US Central Command said it “was not used in the operation.”

However, a US official familiar with the matter told NBC News that the US provided intelligence to support the rescue operation. American drones have been flying over Gaza for months and the United States has been sharing the intelligence collected by these drones.

A spokesman for Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv said helicopters carrying the hostages began landing at the facility around 12:30 p.m. (5:30 a.m. ET).

Within hours, the Israeli army released photos and video footage of an emotional reunion between the hostages and their families. Kozlov was filmed falling to his knees at the sight of his mother, Evgeniya Kozlova, with tears streaming down his face.

Argamani, who had entered her 245th day in captivity when she was rescued, went to Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv to see her mother, Liora, who is receiving treatment for terminal brain cancer.

In a phone call with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, she said: “I am very happy to be here.”

In Gaza, they were counting the cost.

Al-Kahlot said: “The crime is that the whole world is watching our children die and no one is doing anything.” “We have the right to live.”