The deaths of three hostages by Israeli army bullets in Gaza have fueled calls for an immediate deal with Hamas.
Hundreds of protesters marched the night before Saturday in Israel’s Tel Aviv. They blocked the city’s main road and demanded an immediate agreement from their government to release the remaining hostages taken by the terrorist organization Hamas.
Shock and dismay have spread in Israel after the country’s armed forces (IDF) said on Friday that its soldiers accidentally shot and killed three Israeli hostages in Gaza.
The IDF sent its condolences to the families of the victims and promised “full transparency” in the investigation of the case.
In their twenties Yotam Haim, Alon Shamriz and Samer Talalka were abducted by Hamas from kibbutzim on the Gaza border on October 7.
According to the armed forces, the soldiers shot the hostages in Gaza City because they had mistaken them for a threat. The IDF believes the trio had either escaped their captors or the captors had left the hostages behind.
“Netanyahu has blood on his hands”
The death of Israeli hostages by the bullets of their own soldiers increases the pressure on the government to agree with Hamas on new prisoner exchanges.
In its October attack, Hamas captured around 240 Israelis, more than a hundred of whom are still being held hostage in Gaza. During a week-long cease-fire at the end of November, Hamas released hostages and Israel released Palestinians in its prisons.
One of the participants in the night demonstration in Tel Aviv was Zohar Avigdorwhose own relatives are still held hostage in Gaza.
– I personally know the families of the victims who were waiting with hope for their loved ones to return home. This hit straight to the heart. An agreement to release the hostages is needed immediately, Avigdori told the news agency Reuters.
The hostages must be freed “at any cost”, said a marcher on the streets of Tel Aviv Ilana Zeffren. He blamed the situation on the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
– He is responsible for everything that has happened and is still happening. He has blood on his hands. He should resign immediately, Zeffren told Reuters.
Netanyahu wrote on the messaging service X on Friday evening that he considered the death of the three hostages an “unbearable tragedy”.
Sources: Israel and Hamas returning to the negotiating table
Negotiations between Israel and Hamas may be starting again, reports a US news website Axios based on information from their sources. Israel’s goal would be to reach a new agreement to release the hostages.
According to Axios, the head of Israel’s intelligence service Mossad would be meeting with the prime minister of Qatar somewhere in Europe this weekend. The purpose is to agree on the continuation of negotiations, in which Qatar acts as a mediator.
On Friday, the United States again called on Israel to scale back its ground offensive in Gaza to avoid more civilian casualties.
About 18,800 people, most of them women and children, have died in the Israeli bombardment and attack, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. About 1.9 million people have fled their homes.
Qatari news channel al-Jazeera tells that its descriptor Samer Abudaq died in Israeli shelling in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis on Friday. He is one of at least 64 about a journalist reporting on the warwho have died during the war.
Sources: Reuters, STT, AFP, AP