CAIRO (Reuters) -Israel cannot force its choices on Hamas and the group will accept no deal that does not achieve security for Palestinians, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh said on Saturday in response to an Israeli military offensive in Gaza’s al-Nuseirat area.

Israeli forces have rescued four hostages alive from two separate locations in the central Gaza area of al-Nuseirat on Saturday, the military said.

“Our people will not surrender and the resistance will continue to defend our rights in the face of this criminal enemy,” Haniyeh said in his statement.

“If the (Israeli) occupation believes that it can impose its choices on us by force, then it is delusional,” he added.

At least 55 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in Israeli attacks on Nuseirat and other areas in central Gaza, the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave said on Saturday.

(Reporting by Nidal Al-Mughrabi; Writing by Nayera AbdallahEditing by Mark Heinrich and Tomasz Janowski)