Israel frees two hostages in Rafah under the cover of air strikes

Rescue operation shows that military pressure should continue, Netanyahu says

JERUSALEM Israel freed two Israeli-Argentinian hostages in Rafah on Feb 12 under the cover of air strikes.

The local authorities said the strikes killed 67 Palestinians and wounded dozens in the southern Gaza city. Rafah is the last refuge of about a million displaced civilians.

A joint operation by the Israeli military, the domestic Shin Bet security service and the Special Police Unit in Rafah freed Mr Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Mr

Louis Hare, 70, the Israeli military said.

They were among about 250 people that Israel says were abducted during an Oct 7 militant raid that triggered Israel's war in Gaza. Israel's retaliatory strikes have killed more than 28,000 people and left much of the densely populated strip of land on the Mediterranean in ruins.

The Israeli military says 31 hostages have since died, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the rescue on Feb 12 showed that military pressure should continue, brushing aside international alarm at its plans for a ground assault on Rafah.

"Fernando and Louis, welcome home," he said, saluting the Israeli forces who rescued them. "Only continued military pressure, until total victory, will bring about the release of all of our hostages." The Gaza health ministry said 67 people had been killed, and the number could rise as rescue operations were under way.

A Reuters journalist at the scene saw a vast area of rubble where buildings, including a mosque, had been destroyed.