Current:Home > reviewsPalestinian family recounts horror of Israel's hostage rescue raid that left a grandfather in mourning -OceanicInvest
Palestinian family recounts horror of Israel's hostage rescue raid that left a grandfather in mourning
View
Date:2025-04-20 10:33:59
Tel Aviv — Since this weekend, when Israeli special forces carried out the mission to rescue four hostages — Andrey Kozlov, Shlomi Ziv, Almog Meir, and Noa Argamani — dramatic video of the raid shared by the Israeli military has been seen around the world. What's been less visible, however, is the aftermath of that operation, and the Palestinian civilians who survived it.
CBS News' team in Gaza met eyewitness Abedelraof Meqdad, 60, who walked us through his bullet-ridden home, just across the street from where one of the Israeli military vehicles broke down under heavy Hamas gunfire.
The commandos burst into his family apartment, he says, and blindfolded and bound the hands of the men before interrogating them.
- Where things stand on an Israel-Hamas cease-fire deal
"There were sound grenades. Women and children were screaming. I told them, 'Why are you shouting? You are scaring the children.' He said, 'shut up or I will shoot you and them.'"
Meqdad told CBS News the Israeli forces then dragged him to the living room, demanding to know if there were fighters or weapons in his home.
"I told them there are no fighters here and no weapons, I am just a merchant," he said.
When it was all over, two of Meqdad's grandsons had been shot.
CBS News found one of them, 16-year-old Moamen Mattar, as doctors reconstructed his mangled arm in a hospital.
He told us his brother didn't survive.
"He was shot right next to me, in the stomach and the leg," Mattar said. "He was 12."
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says 274 people were killed in the rescue operation, and many hundreds more wounded. Israel disputes that number and says casualties are the fault of Hamas, for surrounding the hostages with civilians.
James Elder, the spokesperson for the U.N.'s children's charity UNICEF, is in Gaza this week and he told CBS News he saw the grisly scenes after the raid at the hospital himself.
"Walking in this hospital, absolutely heaving with people, little 3-year-olds, 7-year-olds with these grotesque wounds of war — head injuries and the burns," he said. "It's the smell of burning flesh — it's very hard to get out of one's head."
According to the most recently reported data, about 47% of Gaza's overall population is under 18, accounting for the high proportion of child deaths reported in this conflict.
The prospect of a cease-fire in the war remains in limbo, meanwhile. A frustrated Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that Hamas had "waited two weeks and proposed changes" to the current U.S.-backed proposal on the table — which he said Israel had also accepted. "As a result, the war Hamas started will go on."
- In:
- War
- Hostage Situation
- Hamas
- Israel
- Palestinians
- Gaza Strip
Chris Livesay is a CBS News foreign correspondent based in Rome.
TwitterveryGood! (6)
Related
- Head of the Federal Aviation Administration to resign, allowing Trump to pick his successor
- No Idea How To Do Your Hair? These Under-$15 Accessories & Tool-Free Style Hacks Are the Perfect Solution
- Does Kris Jenner Plan to Ever Retire? She Says…
- Man charged after transporting homemade explosives to 'blow up' Satanic Temple, prosecutors say
- Could your smelly farts help science?
- Scammer who claimed to be an Irish heiress should be extradited to UK, judge rules
- Hailey and Justin Bieber announce pregnancy, show baby bump
- WWII pilot from Idaho accounted for 80 years after his P-38 Lightning was shot down
- Angelina Jolie nearly fainted making Maria Callas movie: 'My body wasn’t strong enough'
- Jessica Biel Goes Blonde With Major Hair Transformation After Met Gala
Ranking
- The city of Chicago is ordered to pay nearly $80M for a police chase that killed a 10
- Toronto Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe fired after another early playoff exit
- California’s budget deficit has likely grown. Gov. Gavin Newsom will reveal his plan to address it
- GM is retiring the Chevrolet Malibu, once a top-seller in the U.S.
- Rylee Arnold Shares a Long
- Tiffany Haddish Weighs in on Ex Common's Relationship with Jennifer Hudson
- Welcome to Rockville 2024: Lineup, daily schedule, ticket information
- No sign of widespread lead exposure from Maui wildfires, Hawaii health officials say
Recommendation
The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
Ai Profit Algorithms 4.0 - Changing the Game Rules of the Investment Industry Completely
2024 South Carolina General Assembly session may be remembered for what didn’t happen
Video games help and harm U.S. teens — leading to both friendships and bullying, Pew survey says
Buckingham Palace staff under investigation for 'bar brawl'
Jalen Brunson's return, 54 years after Willis Reed's, helps Knicks to 2-0 lead. But series is far from over.
Bachelor Nation's Victoria Fuller Breaks Silence on Greg Grippo Breakup
Opportunity for Financial Innovation: The Rise of DAF Finance Institute