CNN —Israel’s operation to rescue four hostages took weeks of preparation and involved hundreds of personnel, its military said. Israel heavily bombarded central Gaza as it carried out the operation, killing more than 200 Palestinians and wounding many others, according to Gaza hospital officials. “Israeli forces have been preparing for this rescue mission for weeks. The special operation was months in the making, and Israeli forces prepared by building models of the apartments the hostages were being held in to train in, Hagari said. But on the ground in Gaza, Palestinians described scenes of carnage following the strikes that led up to the rescue.

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Persons: – Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, Shlomi Ziv –, Daniel Hagari, Hagari, Jehad, ”, ” Hagari, Nidal Abdo, Ori Megidish, Fernando Marman, Louis Har, Mahmoud Abbas, “, Abbas Organizations: CNN, Staff, Nova, Palestinian, Israel Defense Forces, IDF, Israel, Saturday, United Nations, UN Security Council, UN Locations: Gaza, Israel, Nuseirat, Rafah, Palestinian