Israel strikes 'severely overcrowded' Rafah, says it freed 2 hostages

Dozens of people were killed early Monday after Israel launched a series of strikes on Rafah, according to Gaza health officials. Israel also announced it rescued two hostages during a special raid into the southern Gaza city, where 1.4 million Palestinians have sought refuge during the four-month Israel-Hamas war.

Israel has been signalling its ground offensive in Gaza may soon target the densely populated city on the Egyptian border. On Sunday, the White House said President Joe Biden had warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel should not conduct a military operation against Hamas in Rafah without a "credible and executable" plan to protect civilians.

The strikes hit around Kuwait Hospital early Monday morning, an Associated Press journalist in Rafah said. Some of those wounded in the strikes had been brought to the hospital.

The Israeli military said it struck "terror targets in the area of Shaboura," which is a district in Rafah. The military statement said the series of strikes had concluded, without elaborating on the targets or assessing the potential damage or casualties.

Gaza health officials told Reuters at least 37 people were killed in the strikes.

Shortly after the bombardment, the Israeli military announced it had freed two hostages — identified as Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70 — during a raid by special forces in Rafah, also on early on Monday. It said both men were kidnapped by Hamas militants from Kibbutz Nir Yizhak in the Oct. 7 attack that started the Israel-Hamas war. They are just the second and third hostages to be rescued safely.

The two men were rescued from a residential building in a raid that also killed at least seven people, according to Palestinian officials. Witnesses reported at least 17 airstrikes, flares and Apache helicopter fire.

Lt. Col. Richard Hecht said the operation was based on "precise intelligence," and that the site, located on the second floor of the building, had been watched for "some time." He said Netanyahu joined Israel's military chief and other top officials as the raid unfolded. 

The two men were taken to Sheba hospital in central Israel, a statement from the hospital said, and were confirmed by doctors to be in "good condition."

The two men were taken to Sheba hospital in central Israel, a statement from the hospital said, and were confirmed by doctors to be in "good condition."

Biden's remarks on Sunday were his most forceful language yet on a possible Israeli ground operation into Rafah. Biden, who last week called Israel's military response in Gaza "over the top," also sought "urgent and specific" steps to strengthen humanitarian aid. Israel's Channel 13 television said the conversation lasted 45 minutes.

Discussion of the potential for a ceasefire agreement took up much of the call, a senior U.S. administration official said. After weeks of diplomacy, a "framework" is now "pretty much" in place for a deal that could see the release of remaining hostages held by Hamas in exchange for a halt to fighting.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss negotiations, acknowledged that "gaps remain," but declined to give details. The official said military pressure on Hamas in the southern city of Khan Younis in recent weeks helped bring the group closer to accepting a deal.

Netanyahu's office declined to comment on the call. The Hamas Al-Aqsa television station earlier quoted an unnamed Hamas official as saying any invasion of Rafah would "blow up" the talks mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar.