The tragic cost of hostage-rescue in Gaza

The celebrations over the dramatic rescue by Israeli special forces of four hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since October 7 have been tempered by the appalling number of Palestinians killed in the process. The Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry has claimed the death toll is 274, a figure which is difficult to confirm, although Jake Sullivan, the US national security adviser, has acknowledged that there were many civilian casualties. There is no such thing as a pure, 100 per cent perfect military operation, but a mission of this kind, with Israeli commandos smashing their way into two buildings to get to the heavily-guarded hostages was never going to be an easy, and certainly not a casualty-free operation. Some of the 274 killed will have been Hamas fighters, reducing further the overall strength of the terrorist-designated organisation. But it's claimed women and children also died. Tragically, this was inevitable because Hamas had concealed the hostages in buildings where Palestinian families were also living. US forces were not used in the operation but it seems clear that American spy and eavesdropping satellites and other forms of electronic surveillance were deployed to pinpoint the location of the hostages and Hamas guards. One has to assume that such systems also identified the fact that hundreds of civilians were in the buildings. Would the US have warned the Israelis to be ultra-careful about killing civilians? I'm sure Washington would have urged caution. But the release of the four hostages was the priority objective, and nothing was going to get in the way. More of these hostage-rescue missions are likely in the next few months. And more civilian deaths as a consequence.