Israel says two male Israeli hostages have been rescued in Rafah, as Israeli air strikes hit the southern Gazan city. The Israeli military says Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70, are in "good medical condition"
- Israel says there was "aerial coverage and a wave of strikes" to accompany the hostage raid
- A spokesman for the Hamas-run health ministry says at least 67 Palestinians were killed in the strikes. The ministry says 164 people have been killed in Gaza in the last day
- It follows warnings from the international community over Israel's planned offensive in the city, where 1.5 million people are sheltering
- Israel launched its operations in Gaza after more than 1,200 people were killed on 7 October by Hamas, who also took 253 people hostage
- The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says more than 28,100 Palestinians have been killed and more than 67,500 injured since then. Netanyahu welcomes home hostages and vows to continue military pressure
- Netanyahu welcomes home hostages and vows to continue military pressure
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has welcomed home the two Israeli hostages who were rescued overnight from Rafah in a raid by the country's forces.
Posting on social media platform X, Netanyahu wrote: "Fernando and Louis, welcome home."
He went on to pay tribute to the "brave fighters" who rescued the two men, adding: "Only continued military pressure, until total victory, will bring about the release of all of our hostages."
Netanyahu's comments follow warnings from the international community against expanding Israel's offensive further into Rafah, where an estimated 1.5 million people have been sheltering from the fighting.
There have been plenty of developments in the Israel-Gaza conflict in the last few hours. Let's bring you up to speed with the key details:
- Israel carried out intense aerial bombardment in the south of the Gaza Strip overnight
- A spokesman for the Hamas-run health ministry says at least 67 Palestinians were killed in the strikes on Rafah, where 1.5 million people are sheltering.
- Israel's military says it rescued two hostages in its accompanying hostage raid on the city
- Louis Har, 70 and Fernando Simon Marman, 60, were being held on the second floor of a building in the middle of Rafah
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the return of the men who were both taken to hospital in central Israel where they are said to be in a good condition.
More now on the news that Israel has rescued two male hostages - Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70 - from the southern city of Rafah.
In a statement, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari says Israeli forces broke into a building "in the heart of Rafah". The two men were found on the second floor being held by armed Hamas members in an apartment, he adds.
Hagari says that from the moment of entry, troops shielded Marman and Har with their bodies, "initiating a daring battle and heavy exchanges of fire at several locations simultaneously".
The pair were rescued from the apartment under fire, the spokesman says, as IDF forces "provided them [with] protection in the Rafah area until they reached a safe zone".
Hagari says the raid was carried out in the early morning at 01:49 local time (23:49 GMT).
"This is an operation we have been preparing for a while," Hagari says. The pair were taken from Nir Yitzhak kibbutz by Hamas on 7 October and had been held hostage since.
THIS AND MANY MORE REPORTS AND UPDATES AT: Israel-Gaza war: Israeli strikes kill dozens in Rafah as raid rescues two hostages - BBC News
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