3 hostages in Gaza were killed by friendly fire, Israeli military says

[Voltaire2]

Source: CBS News

Three hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza were mistakenly killed by friendly fire, the Israeli military said in a statement Friday.

During combat operations in Shejaiya, a dense neighborhood in the Gaza City area where fighting has been taking place, the Israeli military said troops "mistakenly identified three Israeli hostages as a threat." Troops fired at the three and they were killed, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The Israeli military said the bodies have been returned to Israel and the identities of the three were confirmed.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/3-hostages-in-gaza-killed-by-friendly-fire-israeli-military-says/

[IronLionZion]

1. 3 that they know of

they don't know how many were killed in bombings

[Voltaire2]

2. indeed. Perhaps negotiating more releases of live hostages would be a good idea?

[IronLionZion]

3. Indiscriminate bombing kills everyone nearby

In this case, it was soldiers shooting, so they were able to identify the dead bodies afterwards. There is less of that when bodies are destroyed or under a collapsed building.

[sarisataka]

5. There is an impediment to negotiations

When a side refuses to negotiate...

Hamas not responding to attempts to get hostage negotiations back on track

Hamas has been unresponsive to overtures made in recent days to try to restart hostage negotiations, a source familiar with the efforts told CNN, as the US and other mediators try to resurrect talks that would see more hostages who were abducted on October 7 be released from captivity.

Qatar – which continues to play the role of interlocutor – has relayed to Hamas new ideas to try to get more hostages out of Gaza, including a potential deal that would include the release of not just the remaining women hostages, but men as well, according to one source familiar with the efforts and a senior US official.

“There’s not an active negotiation, but there’s a real exploration of ideas for how to get this going,” the senior US official said. But Hamas has not been responsive to the outreach, the source familiar said.

Qatar speaks with Hamas political officials in Gaza who then relay messages to the group’s leadership inside the strip who are actively trying to avoid detection by Israel. US officials had said getting answers from Hamas was an incredibly cumbersome process during the first round of negotiations that led to a series of hostages being released. It may now be even harder for Hamas leaders to engage in talks now given the Israeli focus on hunting them down.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/13/politics/hostage-negotiations-hamas-israel/index.html

[RockRaven]

4. Also in the chaotic response to the initial Hamas attack on Oct 7, there were

almost certainly friendly fire incidents. We will likely never know the extent of those.

[Kennah]

6. Hostages have been dying during hostage rescue missions since the beginning of hostage rescue

[Eugene]

7. Israeli hostages killed mistakenly in Gaza were holding white flag, official says

Source: Reuters

Israeli hostages killed mistakenly in Gaza were holding white flag, official says

Reuters
Sat, December 16, 2023 at 7:07 AM EST·1 min read

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Three Israeli hostages killed mistakenly in Gaza by Israeli forces had been holding up a white flag, according to an initial inquiry into the incident, a military official said on Saturday.

The incident happened in an area of intense combat where Hamas militants operate in civilian attire and use deception tactics, the official said.

A soldier saw the hostages emerging tens of meters from Israeli forces in the area of Shejaiya, the official said.

"They're all without shirts and they have a stick with a white cloth on it. The soldier feels threatened and opens fire. He declares that they're terrorists, they (forces) open fire, two are killed immediately," said the military official.

-snip-

Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/israeli-hostages-killed-mistakenly-gaza-120718301.html