Women hold placards in Arabic, Hebrew and English during a demonstration by Israeli and Palestinian women calling for peace in Tel Aviv, Israel, December 15, 2023.Maya Areruzzo/Associated Press
Three Israeli hostages mistakenly shot dead by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip were waving white flags but were shirtless when they were killed, military officials said Saturday, as Israel fights a war with Hamas. For the first time, he admitted to harming the hostages.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a national address that the killing “shattered my heart and the heart of the entire nation,” but suggested there would be no change in Israel’s military actions. “We remain as committed as ever to continue to the end, until we dismantle Hamas and return all the hostages,” he said.
Outrage over the wrongful killings has prompted the Israeli government to restart Qatar-brokered negotiations with Hamas to exchange Israel’s remaining 129 prisoners for more Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. , pressure on the Israeli government is likely to increase.
Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official, reiterated that there will be no more hostage releases until the war ends and Israel accepts the extremist group’s terms of exchange. Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel would never agree to such demands.
Israel’s explanation of how the three hostages were killed also raised questions about the soldiers’ actions. Palestinians have claimed on several occasions that Israeli soldiers opened fire on civilians as they tried to flee to safety. Hamas claimed, without providing evidence, that other hostages had also been killed earlier in Israeli fire and air strikes.
An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations, said the hostages were likely abandoned by their captors or had fled. The soldiers’ actions were “in violation of our rules of engagement,” officials said, adding that an investigation was being conducted at the highest levels.
The hostages did everything they could to show they were not a threat, but “this shooting took place during combat and under pressure,” army chief of staff Helgy Halevi said in a statement.
Halevi added: “More incidents of hostages escaping or being left behind during the fighting are likely. We have a duty and responsibility to rescue them alive.”
The hostages, all in their 20s, were killed on Friday in Gaza City’s Shijaiya district, where troops are engaged in heavy fighting with Hamas. They were among more than 240 people taken hostage during Hamas’ unprecedented raid on Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people, most of them civilians. .
Ruby Chen, the father of hostage Itai Chen, 19, spoke at a rally in Tel Aviv and criticized the government for believing hostages could be rescued through military pressure. “We will put the best offer on the table to bring the hostages back alive,” he said. “I don’t want to put it back in the bag.”
Israeli military officials said the three hostages emerged from a building close to Israeli soldiers’ positions. They waved white flags and were shirtless, perhaps trying to show they were not a threat.
Two died instantly, and the third ran back into the building screaming for help in Hebrew. Commanders ordered a cease-fire, but another round of gunfire killed a third person, officials said.
Israeli media provided further coverage. The mass-circulating daily newspaper Idiot Aronot said that according to an investigation into the incident, the soldiers chased the third man, shouting for him to come out, and that at least one soldier shot at him as he emerged from the stairs. .
Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported that soldiers who pursued the third hostage believed he was a member of Hamas. According to local media, the soldiers had earlier seen signs reading “SOS” and “Help!” written on nearby buildings. “Three hostages,” but I was worried that it was a trap.
Political analyst Daria Scheindlin said the killing was unlikely to significantly change public support for the war. She said most Israelis remain keenly aware of why the fighting is being fought and believe Hamas needs to be defeated.
“They feel like they have no other choice,” she says.
The killings underscored the dangers hostages face in areas where door-to-door fighting takes place, such as Shijaiyah, where nine soldiers were killed this week in one of the deadliest days of the war for Israeli ground forces. The military said Hamas had booby-trapped buildings and ambushed his troops through a network of tunnels it had built beneath Gaza City.
On Saturday, the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum claimed that another hostage, 27-year-old Inbal Heyman, had been killed in Gaza. The group did not provide further details.
Hamas released more than 100 Palestinian hostages during a brief ceasefire in November. Almost all of those released on both sides were women and minors. Negotiations for further exchange broke down.
Hamas is demanding the return of all Palestinian prisoners. As of late November, Israel held approximately 7,000 Palestinians accused or convicted of security crimes, including hundreds who have been rounded up since the start of the war. .
The war has flattened much of northern Gaza and forced 85% of the Gaza Strip’s population of 2.3 million to flee their homes. Only a small amount of aid was able to enter Gaza. Israel announced it would open a second entry point in Kerem Shalom to speed up deliveries.
The Hamas-run Gaza Strip’s Health Ministry said on Thursday that more than 18,700 Palestinians had been killed in the attack. No distinction is made between civilian and combatant deaths.
This was the ministry’s last update before the recent communications blackout in Gaza. “He has 48 hours left. This incident is likely to limit reporting and visibility of events on the ground,” said Alp Toker, director of NetBlocks, a group that tracks internet outages. .
The war was deadly for journalists. Mourners on Friday held prayers in memory of Samer Abu Dhaka, a Palestinian journalist who worked for broadcaster Al Jazeera and was killed in an Israeli attack. The Committee to Protect Journalists announced that the cameraman was the 64th journalist killed in the conflict (57 Palestinians, four Israelis, and three Lebanese).
In devastated Gaza City, resident Assad Abu Taha reported “violent shelling” on Saturday.
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has claimed that two Christian women were killed and seven others injured by Israeli sniper fire inside a church in Gaza City. The women were identified as a mother and daughter. Gaza has a small Christian community of about 1,000 people. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli side.
The United States, Israel’s closest ally, has expressed concern about Israel’s failure to reduce civilian casualties, but the White House continues to provide support in the form of arms shipments and diplomatic assistance. .
Israel and the United States remain wide apart over who will govern Gaza after the war. The US government wants a unified Palestinian government in Gaza and the West Bank as a precursor to the eventual creation of a Palestinian state. A two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict enjoys broad international support.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Saturday that Israel would maintain security in the demilitarized Gaza Strip and that a Palestinian state posed a threat to Israel. He said he was “proud to have prevented the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was in Israel to continue discussions on a timeline for de-escalating the intense combat phase of the war. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his military leaders have vowed to continue until “complete victory”, with the prime minister pointing out that it will take time.
Jovan reported from Rafah in the Gaza Strip and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers Bassem Mourou in Beirut and Iris Samuels in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
