Turkey has condemned Israel's operation to free its hostages in the Gaza Strip as a "barbaric attack" and accused Israel of war crimes.
"With this latest barbaric attack, Israel has added a new one to the list of war crimes it has committed in Gaza," the Foreign Ministry in Ankara said on Sunday, without mentioning the hostage rescue.
On Saturday, Israel's military freed four people kidnapped from Israel during the October 7 massacres. They were found in the centre of the Gaza Strip after eight months of being held captive.
There were reportedly heavy air strikes and artillery fire that accompanied the rescue mission. Television pictures showed massive casualities and an overwhelmed hospital.
The Hamas media office said 210 Palestinians were killed and around 400 injured in Nuseirat, one of the locations where the operation took place. The information could not initially be independently verified.
The Israeli army said it was verifying the reports. Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said there were fewer than 100 casualties.
The Hamas-controlled health authority and medical sources in the Gaza Strip previously spoke of 55 deaths.
