Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the tragic killing of three hostages by Israeli soldiers had "broken" his and the nation's hearts, but stressed that the army's ground operation and the war will continue until Hamas is destroyed.
"We are fighting for our existence and we must continue until victory," Netanyahu said despite international pressure to establish a ceasefire and the losses Israel is suffering.
The Israeli leader told a news conference that he regretted the deaths of three hostages mistakenly killed Friday morning in northern Gaza when Israeli soldiers thought they posed a threat.
"They touched salvation and then disaster struck," Netanyahu said, alluding to speculation that the hostages escaped or were abandoned by their captors and then headed toward Israeli positions carrying a white flag.
Netanyahu announced that a lesson would be learned and promised that Israel would continue its military and diplomatic efforts to return all hostages, Israeli media reported.
"Military pressure is necessary for the return of the hostages and our victory. Without military pressure, we will not be able to return the 110 abductees. Without it, we will have nothing," said the Prime Minister of Israel.
He also reiterated his opposition to plans for the Palestinian Authority, which controls parts of the occupied West Bank, to take control of the Gaza Strip after the war, despite US support.
"After the elimination of Hamas, the Gaza Strip will be demilitarized and will be under Israeli security control. Despite the grief, despite the international pressure, we will continue until the end. Nothing will stop us," Netanyahu announced.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant also said that the military operation helped to reach an agreement on the return of some hostages, adding that Hamas only understands force.
He called the killing of the hostages one of the most tragic events he could remember, saying that the country was on the verge of achieving something different. He explained that the reason for the murder was "serious mistakes".
On the first day of the attack on Israel on October 7, Palestinian extremists killed over 1.200 people and took about 240 hostages to the Gaza Strip.
During the one-week truce at the end of November, 105 hostages were released, and five were released earlier.
(BETA)
Israel's Chief of General Staff, Herzi Halevi, took responsibility for the killing of three hostages who were killed by Israeli soldiers in Gaza on Friday.
The hostages were killed even though they were waving a makeshift white flag and were unarmed.
"It is forbidden to shoot at those who raise the white flag and ask to surrender. What was done is a violation of the rules of service," Halevi said, but added that the shooting was during combat and under stressful circumstances, Israeli media reported.
The families of the hostages detained in the Gaza Strip appealed in the meantime to the Government of Israel to end the fighting and negotiations for their release more than two months after the start of the war with Hamas.
"We are only pulling out dead bodies. We are asking you to stop the fighting and start negotiations," said Noam Peri, the daughter of an Israeli detained in Gaza at a gathering of hostage families in Tel Aviv, Agence France-Presse reported.
Since Israeli soldiers accidentally killed three hostages in the north of the Gaza Strip yesterday, the families are demanding that the Government of Israel initiate a new agreement for the release of their members.
(BETA)
The killing of three Israeli hostages in Gaza by Israeli soldiers has sparked an outpouring of criticism against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government.
Many critics pointed out that Netanyahu did not announce the tragedy personally, as the then Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin did in 1994 after an attempt to rescue a kidnapped soldier, in which that soldier and one of the Israeli commandos were killed.
"The spokesperson of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) was abandoned last night. He was not the one who should have looked the public in the eye and informed them of the tragedy, but the Prime Minister or at least the Minister of Defense and the Chief of the General Staff. This is not surprising, but it is disappointing," he wrote. is a journalist of the circulation newspaper "Jediot Ahronota".
Many of the government's critics, who softened their opposition after the start of the war triggered by Hamas attacks on Israel from Gaza on October 7, criticized it again today.
Historian Uri Heitner linked yesterday's incident that happened, judging by the initial results of the investigation, even though the hostages were unarmed and waving a white flag, to the liberal policy of firearms and public security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's open calls to arm civilians.
Dan Halutz, the former chief of the general staff, wrote a direct message to Netanyahu that the only possible image of victory, after the failure in 2023, is his departure with a white flag.
Netanyahu is under increasing pressure to reach an agreement on the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza. Of the approximately 240 abducted on the first day of the war, 129 are believed to have been captured, but it is not known if all are alive.
(BETA)
Israeli officials appear to be more open to talks with mediators to reach a new deal on a ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of hostages in Gaza, two Egyptian security sources said today, Reuters reports.
The comments came as Axios reported that the head of Israel's Mossad spy agency, David Barnea, met Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Europe late Friday in an attempt to revive talks.
Israel did not immediately respond to the Egyptian assessment or to reports of the meeting 10 weeks after the start of clashes between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas in Gaza.
Egyptian sources said Israeli officials had changed their minds on some points they had previously rejected, but did not elaborate.
Axios said the meeting in Europe was the first meeting between senior Israeli and Qatari officials, who are negotiating between the two sides, since the collapse of a seven-day ceasefire in late November.
The Wall Street Journal separately reported that the Qatari prime minister will meet with Mossad Barne today in the Norwegian capital of Oslo.
Significant obstacles are hindering the continuation of negotiations on a new hostage deal, including disagreements over possible terms within Hamas, the report added, citing people familiar with the negotiations.
A Hamas official, asked earlier if there was any intention to resume hostage negotiations, told Reuters there was nothing new to report.
During a week-long truce in late November, Hamas released more than 100 women, children and foreigners it had held in Gaza in exchange for the release of 240 women and teenagers.
Today, Israel mourns the death of three hostages in Gaza killed when soldiers mistook them for a threat, reports Radio Free Europe.
The military has expressed regret over the "tragic" incident that sparked protests in Tel Aviv.
Agence France-Presse reports that the Israeli military said the three hostages - all in their XNUMXs - were killed during operations near Gaza City.
The three were among about 240 people taken hostage during Hamas' October 7 attacks on Israel, which also killed about 1.200 people.
Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said:
During the fighting in Shejaya, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) mistakenly identified three Israeli hostages as a threat and as a result opened fire on them, killing the hostages.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described their deaths as an "unbearable tragedy." "All of Israel mourns its loss," he said, while the White House called it a "tragic mistake."
As news of the incident spread late Friday, hundreds of people gathered at Israel's Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv to call on Netanyahu's government to secure the release of more than 130 hostages Israel believes are still being held in Hamas-run territory.
Demonstrators waved Israeli flags and waved placards. One message read: "Every day a hostage dies."
Who are the Israeli hostages mistakenly killed by the IDF?
Three men taken to Gaza from Israel by Hamas during their October 7 attacks were mistakenly killed by Israeli forces, Radio Free Europe reports.
Yotam Haim, 28, Samer Talalka, 22, and Alon Shamriz, 26, were all wrongly identified as a "threat" by the Israeli armed forces. Here's what we know about the three men:
Yotam Haim was a musician who loved animals and cooking Italian food. He was kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar by Hamas.
Samer Talalka was a passionate motorcycle enthusiast who loved to travel to the countryside and spend time with friends. He was taken by Hamas from Kibbutz Nir Am, and a photo of him being led through Gaza was widely shared on Telegram.
Alon Shamriz's family released limited information and initially did not want him to be identified. We know that he was taken from the same kibbutz as Yotam Haim during the Hamas attacks on October 7.
After Israel's announcement that it will allow aid to enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing - for the first time since the beginning of the war - the representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the enclave says that more needs to be done, reports Radio Free Europe.
That's good news, Richard Piperkorn told the BBC, but he said the focus should now be on making sure "aid trucks can go everywhere in Gaza - not just to the south".
Peeperkorn said there were hospitals in the north that were "barely functional" - and as a result "regular supplies" were needed.
"How do we ensure that we can get regular supplies and ... help to increase the number of beds, to connect emergency medical teams to those places? At the moment it is not possible, because of the lack of security, the difficult routes..."
Finally, Piperkorn said, "we're not just talking about getting supplies to Gaza, we're talking about getting supplies to people all over Gaza."
Previously, aid could only enter Gaza through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt, which only allows a limited number of vehicles to pass through.
Three Israeli hostages mistakenly killed by Israeli forces in Gaza were holding a white flag, according to an initial investigation into the incident, a military official said today, Reuters reports.
The incident took place in an area of intense fighting where Hamas militants operate in civilian clothes and use deception tactics, the official said. The hostages were fired upon in violation of Israeli rules of engagement, the official added.
Israeli and Qatari officials are scheduled to meet today in Norway in an effort to revive talks on the release of hostages in Gaza in exchange for a ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, the Wall Street Journal reported today, Reuters reports.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) raided two schools in Gaza City where it claims Hamas members were hiding.
The IDF said it killed several Hamas fighters in the Rimal neighborhood where the schools are located, while the operatives who were in the schools surrendered to the Israeli army, writes the Times of Israel.
"Troops of the Kiriyati Brigade searched several apartments in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, where weapons and tunnels used by Hamas fighters were found," the statement said.
The Israeli army also announced that it had identified suspicious movement on the roof of a building in the Jabalia area, from where it had previously opened fire on Israeli troops, after which an air attack was carried out on that building.
(BETA)
Dozens of Palestinians were killed today in Gaza by Israeli airstrikes, Palestinian media reported, after the United States of America called on Israel to scale back its military campaign and precisely target Hamas leaders.
At least 14 people were killed in airstrikes that hit two houses on Old Gaza Street in Jabalia, and dozens were killed in a separate airstrike that hit another house in Jabalia, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
WAFA also reported that a large number of civilians were trapped under the rubble, reports Radio Free Europe.
(MINE)
Conflict between Israel and Hamas - 71th day.
Any hostile move against Yemen will have catastrophic consequences, said a member of the Houthi movement's politburo "Ansar Allah" Ali al Kahum.
Al Kahum told Al Majadin television that the Houthis will not give up their support for the Palestinians regardless of threats from the US, Israel or the West and will continue operations against Israel.
"Yemen is ready to respond to any American, Israeli or Western hostile moves," said Al Kahum, quoted by Reuters.
The U.S. military said earlier Friday that two Liberian-flagged ships were hit in the Bab al Mandab Strait in the Red Sea from Yemen's Houthi-controlled territory.
Some companies have temporarily suspended transport through the strait.
The Houthis, a Shiite rebel movement that controls much of Yemen, have carried out multiple attacks on ships in the Red Sea and targeted Israel with drones and missiles since the country's conflict with Hamas began.
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