Palestinian Authority condemns Israeli 'massacre' in Rafah
As we've been reporting, Israel launched a wave of deadly strikes overnight to accompany its hostage raid in the south of Gaza.
Now, the Palestinian Authority's foreign ministry has condemned what it called an Israeli "massacre" in Rafah.
The PA, which controls the occupied West Bank, says the strikes killed 100 people and injured many more.
However, we've received conflicting reports on the death toll. A spokesman for the Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza said at least 67 Palestinians were killed, with earlier reports saying it was "about 100".
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".
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