Kat Lonsdorf

Israeli forces rescued four hostages from Gaza on Saturday, in a “complex special daytime operation,” according to a statement put out by Israeli officials.

Four hostages have been rescued from central Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.

The rescue operation is the largest recovery of living hostages since the war in Gaza began. Meanwhile, at least 274 Palestinians were killed and around 700 were wounded, Gaza's Health Ministry said.

The annual march, part of Jerusalem Day, a national holiday, regularly inflames Israeli-Palestinian tensions. This year those tensions were even higher because of the war in Gaza.

Israel’s military says its air force is striking Hamas and its ground troops are operating in a limited manner. Some on the ground say the area has been pummeled with airstrikes and artillery.

A classroom in a bombed-out school has become a shelter for an extended family of 20 Palestinians. They fled Rafah after Israel's latest offensive in the southern Gaza city.

The UN says about a million people have fled the southern city of Rafah since Israeli forces invaded there earlier this month. People are running out of options for where to go. NPR spends time with one family who is trying to make a bombed out classroom inhabitable.

The moves comes despite an order from the top U.N. court for Israel to halt its offensive in southern Gaza.

Israeli military operations have intensified in Rafah, Gaza, after an Israeli airstrike on Sunday night hit near a camp of displaced people, starting a fire that killed at least 45 people.

An airstrike in Rafah on Sunday killed at least 45 people and injured dozens. This comes just days after the International Court of Justice ordered an immediate halt to the Israeli operation in Rafah.