Israel forces kill hostages with white flag
JERUSALEM (AFP) - The Israeli army said Saturday that three hostages mistakenly killed by soldiers carried a white flag and cried for help in Hebrew.
Yotam Haim, Alon Shamriz and Samer El-Talalqa -- all in their 20s -- were shot during operations in Gaza City on Friday, sparking protests in Israel.
They were among about 250 people taken hostage during Palestinian militant group Hamas's October 7 attacks in Israel, which killed around 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.
Vowing to destroy Hamas and bring back the hostages, Israel launched a massive military offensive against the Palestinian Islamist movement that has left much of the Gaza Strip in ruins. The territory's Hamas government says the war has killed at least 18,800 people, mostly women and children.
Army spokesman Daniel Hagari said that during fighting in the Shejaiya district of Gaza City, troops "mistakenly identified three Israeli hostages as a threat and as a result, fired toward them and the hostages were killed".
An army official said the hostages were all "without shirts" and had "a stick with a white cloth on it", but a soldier felt threatened and opened fire.
"Two are killed immediately, one is injured and runs back into the building," the official said, adding that the soldiers heard "a cry for help... in Hebrew".
Despite a ceasefire order, "there's another burst of fire towards the third figure and he also dies."
The official called it a "tragic" event and "very hard day", but said the troops had faced "intense combat in the area".
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
described their deaths as an "unbearable tragedy".
Hundreds were expected to gather Saturday in Tel Aviv to call on Netanyahu's government to secure the release of 129 hostages still held in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
"I am dying of fear," said Merav Svirsky, sister of hostage Itay Svirsky at a protest on Friday. "We demand a deal now."
In November, a one-week truce saw more
than 100 hostages freed in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails, but fighting has since resumed.
The hostages' deaths have heightened already fierce scrutiny of how Israel is conducting its ground and air assault in Gaza.
The White House, which provides billions of dollars in military aid to Israel, has voiced growing concern over civilian deaths.
"I want them to be focused on how to save civilian lives -- not stop going after Hamas, but be more careful," US President Joe Biden said this week.
News platform Axios said the director of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, David Barnea, was due to meet this weekend in an unspecified location in Europe with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who helped negotiate the earlier truce.