Contrary to media claims, the 274 Palestinians who were killed during an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) raid to rescue four Hamas hostages were part of the “block party” system of supporting terrorist activity in Gaza, according to Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., on Newsmax.

“They want you to think, ‘oh, these were just Palestinians that were around there and, unfortunately, just these Palestinians were killed,’” Mast told Wednesday’s “National Report.“

“They’re totally glossing over the fact that these were Palestinians around there that were supporting Hamas or other terrorist organizations. Maybe they weren’t wearing a black hood and a green Hamas bandana, but they were … feeding them, they were hiding them there. They were maybe part of … watching these people at individual times, they were cloaking their presence there.

“They were all a part of this system that, when we were in Afghanistan, we would call it block parties,” he continued. “You might have one house that’s a target, but that doesn’t mean that all of the subsequent houses around it were not a part of the same organization or the same operations – or maybe they’re the individuals that were digging tunnels or transporting rockets or bringing them ammunition, whatever it might be.

“They were not just, ‘oh, Palestinians’ that were around there. These were people that were connected to the operations that were going on in holding these hostages.”

According to ABC News, Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that 64 children and 57 women were killed in the latest raid, and 153 children and 161 women were among the nearly 700 wounded.

The IDF launched the surprise raid in the middle of the day Saturday, freeing four Israeli hostages who had been held captive since Oct. 7. At least 274 Palestinians and one Israeli commando were killed during the operation, which has been portrayed negatively in mainstream media reports, with several outlets decrying the loss of life on the Palestinian side.

Asked how members of the military plan for such operations, Mast, who served in Afghanistan and is a Bronze Star medal and Purple Heart recipient, said, “There’s nothing that you overlook.”

“Is it going to be a daytime or a nighttime operation?” he continued. “What level of surprise do you have? What level of surveillance did they have? That is to say, can you get directly to the target very swiftly, or do you have to sneak in there in a way that takes a longer period of time?

“How many points of ingress or egress do they have? Are the doors or the points of entry rigged for some kind of explosion? Are the hostages attached to one another? Are they ambulatory? Can you move them? The list goes on and on.

“And the fact of the matter is, now that they’ve rescued these hostages, they will garner a great amount of details about how Hamas is holding hostages, how often they’re moving them, what kind of guard they are under, those sort of things which will help them rescue other hostages as well.”

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