Israel announced it has safely rescued two hostages from Gaza, who were kidnapped by Hamas from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak on October 7. The IDF said the hostages were being held on the second floor of a building that was breached with an explosive charge during the raid. IDF forces broke into the building amid exchange of fire with gunmen in the building and in adjacent buildings, while extracting the hostages to armored vehicles. Meanwhile, “around 100” people have been killed in heavy air strikes on the densely populated town of Rafah in southern Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry.