One day after dramatic hostage rescue, Israeli War Cabinet minister Benny Gantz resigns

Editor's Note: This page is a summary of news on the Israel-Hamas war for Sunday, June 9. For the latest, view our story for Monday, June 10.

Militant-held Israeli hostages were among the more than 200 people killed in the raid that freed four captives and has been lauded as heroic in Israel but described as a massacre across much of the Middle East, Hamas officials said Sunday.

As Israel celebrated the hostage rescue, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was shaken by the resignation of War Cabinet minister Benny Gantz, adding instability to Netanyahu's already fragile ruling coalition.

Abu Obaida, spokesman for the Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades military wing, called Saturday's raid a "complex war crime." He said three hostages were killed in the attack, including one holding a U.S. passport, a claim Israeli military spokesperson Peter Lerner said should be taken "with a pinch of salt."

"By committing horrific massacres, the enemy was able to free some of his prisoners, but at the same time, it killed some of them," Obaida said. "The operation will pose a great danger to the (remaining hostages) and will have a negative impact on their conditions and lives."

The Israeli operation Saturday involved hundreds of troops and heavy air support that pounded the Nuseirat refugee camp. Freed captives Noa Argamani, 25; Almog Meir Jan, 21; Andrey Kozlov, 27',; and Shlomi Ziv, 40, were in good health and being reunited with their families, Israeli authorities said. Lerner said they were held "in civilian homes, putting them within the civilian arena."

Neighboring Egypt and Jordan expressed outrage at the Israeli attack, calling it a violation of international law. Lebanon’s foreign ministry condemned the “massacre." Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, called the attack "a heinous and terrorist crime that targeted defenseless innocents with brutality."

But Netanyahu remained ecstatic Sunday, saying in a social media post: "Happy is the people that is blessed with its heroes. We will continue together to do our utmost to return all of the hostages, and to achieve victory over our enemies."

'Miraculous triumph': What we know about Israel's operation to rescue 4 hostages

Developments:

∎ Netanyahu proposed the rescue operation be dubbed Operation Arnon in honor of the "hero of Israel Arnon Zamora," the commander of the assault force who was killed during the effort.

∎ Sixty-four of the dead were children and 57 were women, the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said Sunday.

∎ Netanyahu's office said he will appoint lawmaker Danny Danon to again serve as Israel's ambassador to the United Nations. Ambassador Gilad Erdan announced a week ago that he would step down after four years; Danon served five years in the post before Erdan.

Centrist Gantz drops out of Netanyahu's right-wing coalition

Gantz, a popular former military leader, called on Netanyahu to set an autumn election date. Gantz resigned despite Netanyahu's social media post hours earlier urging him "not leave the emergency government. Don't give up on unity." The move does not bring down the government but removes the only centrist from Netanyahu's conservative coalition. Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir demanded Gantz's Cabinet seat.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid called Gantz's decision "important and just." He called for replacing the "extreme and promiscuous government with a sane government" that will secure the return of the hostages, repair Israel's economy and restore Israel's international standing.

"Netanyahu is preventing us from advancing toward true victory," Gantz said at a news conference. "That is why we are leaving the emergency government today, with a heavy heart but with full confidence."

Netanyahu coalition clings to majority

The exit of Gantz and the National Unity party he leads reduces the coalition government by eight seats. The five remaining parties are all conservative − Netanyahu's Likud, far-right Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit, and ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism − and hold 64 seats in the 120-member Knesset.

Gantz, however, provided a palatable voice in Netanyahu's government for the U.S. and other nations as Israel faced global accusations of war crimes because of the tens of thousands of civilian deaths linked to Israel's military offensive.

Palestinian death toll rises in hostage raid

Gaza's Health Ministry said Sunday that 274 Palestinians were killed in the raid, up from 210 it reported on Saturday. At least 64 of the dead were children and 57 were women, the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said. An additional 698 people were wounded. Israel said Arnon was the only Israeli soldier killed, in an exchange of gunfire with militants.

Israeli special forces posed as Rafah refugees

Some special forces slipped into the Nuseirat refugee camp in a car with mattresses on top posing as Palestinians fleeing Rafah, according to Saudi-owned Asharq news channel in a report translated by the Times of Israel. They told locals they were escaping the Israeli attack on Rafah and would be staying in the building near a market − a building where Argamani was being held. The other freed hostages were being held in another building nearby.

Biden, Macron welcome rescue: Repeat call for cease-fire

Rafah shelters empty as refugees flee again

Only about 100,000 of the more than 1 million residents and refugees who occupied Rafah a month ago remain in the city, according to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA. Rafah, on the Egyptian border in southern Gaza, had become home to Palestinians fleeing Israeli attacks that left much of northern and central Gaza in ruins. With Israel military operations now focused on Rafah, many Palestinians are heading back toward their destroyed communities, the agency said.

"All UNRWA shelters in Rafah have been vacated. Many of the people who were based in Rafah have fled up the coast seeking safer locations in both Khan Younis and the middle area of Gaza," UNRWA said in a statement.

Contributing: Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israeli war updates: Heroic raid to free Gaza hostages or massacre?