Despite mistaken killing of hostages: Netanyahu sticks to course in Gaza war

The accidental killing of the hostages has deeply shaken Israel. Since then, there have been protests in front of the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, with relatives of hostages and other supporters demanding immediate new negotiations with Hamas over the release of the abductees. "We are taking dead hostages again and again," said Noam Perry, whose father Haim Perry is in the hands of Hamas.

Netanyahu said at a press conference that the mistaken killing of the three hostages had "broken his heart". This incident "has broken the heart of the entire nation". However, the Prime Minister also emphasized that "military pressure" on Hamas was necessary in order to achieve the return of the abductees and victory in the war.

The instructions he was giving the Israeli negotiating team were "based on this pressure, and without it we have nothing", Netanyahu emphasized. However, Hamas declared on Saturday that it would not be prepared to enter into new negotiations on the release of hostages if "the aggression against our people does not stop completely".

Netanyahu did not speak specifically about possible new negotiations with Hamas. However, media reports stated that following the accidental killing of the three hostages, the Israeli government is turning back to the path of negotiations.

As part of a ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hamas, around one hundred hostages were released over the course of a week at the end of November. In return, Israel released 240 Palestinian prisoners from the prisons. According to Israeli sources, however, 129 hostages are still being held by Hamas.

The Israeli army provided initial findings on the mistaken killing of the three hostages. According to the findings, the three men, aged between 25 and 28, had appeared on Friday "a few dozen meters" from an Israeli position in the city of Gaza. They had approached the soldiers with a makeshift white flag, which the soldiers perceived as a threat, said a military representative. A soldier then opened fire.

Two of the hostages were killed immediately, the military representative said. The third hostage was injured and ran back into a building. A cry for help was then heard in Hebrew. The battalion commander then immediately ordered a ceasefire. Nevertheless, there was another burst of fire in the direction of the third hostage, who was then also killed.

According to reports, the three men had possibly been left behind by Hamas or had been able to escape. In an initial reaction on Friday, Netanyahu described the incident as an "unbearable tragedy".

The fierce fighting in the Gaza Strip continued on Saturday. The Israeli army said it had searched two schools in the city of Gaza that had been used as hideouts by Hamas. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem announced that the Israeli army had killed an elderly woman and her daughter on the grounds of the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip. The two women had been hit by the bullets of a sniper

Seven other people were injured by gunfire in the parish of the Holy Family in the city of Gaza, the Patriarchate said. The Israeli armed forces said on request that they were investigating the incident. Christian families have sought refuge in the parish since the beginning of the war.

The war between Israel and Hamas has now been going on for ten weeks. Hundreds of fighters from Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the EU and the USA, invaded Israeli towns on 7 October and committed atrocities against civilians. According to Israeli reports, more than 1130 people were killed and around 250 were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip.

In response, the Israeli army has since bombed targets in the Gaza Strip and launched a ground offensive. According to the latest figures from the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, which cannot be independently verified, around 18,800 people have been killed so far.

The war has also significantly increased tensions on Israel's border with Lebanon. The Israeli army announced on Saturday that one of its soldiers had been killed by an "enemy aircraft" in the Margaliot area on the border with Lebanon. Two other soldiers were injured. This was the seventh Israeli soldier to be killed on the border with Lebanon since the beginning of the Gaza war.

According to a count by the AFP news agency, more than 120 people have died on the Lebanese side in the ten weeks, most of them Hezbollah fighters.

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