Report: Israel Says 104 Casualties in Hostage Rescue, All Combatants

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reportedly says that there were 104 Palestinians killed in Saturday’s successful hostage rescue in Nusierat, Gaza — all of whom were combatants.

That number is slightly higher than Israel’s previous estimate of “under 100” Palestinian casualties. Israel had also said previously that it believed some were civilians.

Now, according to the Jewish Chronicle, the IDF says that the total number of Palestinians killed was 104 — all of whom were either Hamas terrorists or armed civilians joining in the fight as soldiers extracted the hostages.

The Chronicle reported:

[D]ozens of terrorists emerged from the tunnels around the building and began to fire at the Israeli fighters with machine guns and RPG missiles. The Israelis started making their way out of the building (several of them carrying Arnon Zamora on a stretcher), running through smoke-filled alleys and the nearby market which was crowded with thousands of Gazans who would not have hesitated to lynch them. The Israeli forces tried, under constant fire, to get to the rescue vehicle that was waiting for them, but it was hit by two RPG missiles.
…

With the help of tanks, hundreds of soldiers (from the Golani and Givati infantry brigades and paratroopers) charged on foot into the refugee camp, fighting face-to-face battles with Hamas terrorists while navy ships covered them from the west and air force helicopters from the east. Fire from the air hit the terrorists just ten metres from the Israeli soldiers.

…

Hamas claims that during the rescue operation in the crowded streets of the refugee camp, 274 Palestinians were killed. However, the IDF says that 104 Palestinians were killed or wounded – all of whom were Hamas terrorists or armed civilians who collaborated with the terrorist organisation.

The number is far lower than the figure of 274 that has been claimed by Hamas and the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. That figure has never been independently verified, and does not distinguish between civilians and terrorists.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.