Israeli hostages killed by troops had been holding a white flag, military official says

Three Israeli hostages who were mistakenly shot by Israeli troops on Friday in the Gaza Strip had been waving a makeshift white flag and were shirtless when they were killed, an Israeli military official said Saturday,in Israel's first acknowledgement that it had harmed any hostages in the war against Hamas.

Anger over the mistaken killings is likely to increase pressure on the Israeli government to renew Qatar-mediated negotiations with Hamas over swapping more of the remaining captives, which Israel says number 129, for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.

Israeli leaders have said the hostages' release can only be achieved through military pressure.

A senior Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, reiterated on Saturday that there will be no further release of hostages before the war ends and Israel accepts theirconditions for an exchange.

Reuters reported on Saturday that the head of Israel's Mossad spy agency met Qatar's prime minister in Europe late on Friday, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.

LISTEN |Desperation in Gaza amid winter, war and hunger:

Front Burner22:08Desperation in Gaza amid winter, war and hunger

As fighting in Gaza continues, civilian deaths are rising and those that remain face worsening conditions that include a severe lack of food and clean water, overcrowded shelters, floods and disease. As Canada and other Western nations show their support for a ceasefire, Bushra Khalidi, a policy lead with Oxfam, paints a vivid picture of what shes hearing from family and colleagues on the ground in Gaza. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcriptsTranscripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahusidestepped a question about the reported meeting at a televised news conference on Saturday, saying he wouldn't divulge information to Hamas. He said Israel received requests for a ceasefire and to remove troops in Gaza talksbut would not do so.

Hamas released more than 100 hostages in exchange for imprisoned Palestiniansduring a brief Qatar-mediated ceasefire in November. Nearly all freed on both sides were women and minors. Talks on further swaps broke down.

Netanyahusaid Israel's offensive in Gaza had helped clinch a partial hostage-release deal in November. "The instruction I am giving the negotiating team is predicated on this pressure, without which we have nothing," he said.

He calledthe Gaza conflict an existential war that must be fought until victory, despite pressure and costs, and said the territory would be demilitarized and under Israeli security control.

'Against our rules of engagement'

Israel'saccount of how the hostages died also raised questions about the conduct of Israeli ground troops. Palestinians on several occasions have reported that Israeli soldiers opened fire as civilians tried to flee to safety.

Hamas has claimed other hostages were previously killed by Israeli fire or airstrikes, without presenting evidence.

WATCH |Israeli military says it accidentally killed hostages in Gaza:

Israeli military says it mistakenly killed 3 Israeli hostages in Gaza

10 months ago

Duration 2:36

The Israeli military says its troops mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages in Gaza after it erroneously identified them as a threat.

An Israeli military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to brief reporters in line with military regulations, said it was likely that the hostages had been abandoned by their militant captors or had escaped.

The soldiers' behaviour was "against our rules of engagement," the official said, and was being investigated at the highest level.

The hostages did everything they could to signal they weren't a threat, "but this shooting was done during fighting and under pressure," Herzi Halevi, chief of the military's general staff, said in a statement later Saturday.

Halevi added: "There may be additional incidents in which hostages will escape or will be abandoned during the fighting. We have the obligation and the responsibility to get them out alive."

The hostages, three men in their 20s, were killed Friday in the Shijaiyah neighbourhood of Gaza City, where troops are engaged in fierce fighting with Hamas militants.

They had been among more than 240 people taken hostage during a surprise raid by Hamas into Israel on Oct. 7 where roughly1,200 people were killed, mostly civilians, according to a tally by Israel officials.

'We don't want them back in bags'

The hostages' plight has dominated public discourse in Israel. Speaking at a Saturday night rally in Tel Aviv, Rubi Chen, father of 19-year-old hostage Itay Chen, criticized the government for believing hostages could be retrieved through military pressure.

"Put the the best offer on the table to get the hostages home alive," he said. "We don't want them back in bags."

Jonathan Dekel-Chen, whose son Segui is being held by Hamas, called the accidental hostage killings a "tragedy on tragedy," and echoed calls for a speedy and diplomatic resolution.

WATCH |'Horrific accident' adds urgency for hostage release,says father of captive:

'Added urgency' for Israel to bring hostages home alive after 'horrific accident,' says father of hostage

10 months ago

Duration 5:25

Jonathan Dekel-Chen, whose son Segui has been held hostage since Hamas's Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, says the mistaken killings of three Israeli hostages by Israeli troops in Gaza should further galvanize the Israeli government and other involved parties to bring the remaining hostages home alive.

"This reinforces the urgency of getting all the hostages out now ... every hour, every day is critical,"Dekel-Chen told CBC News.

"The best solution right now to guarantee the lives of the hostages we want them home alive is some sort of diplomatic process."

The Israeli military official said the three hostages had emerged from a building close to Israeli soldiers' positions. They waved a white flag and were shirtless, possibly trying to signal they posed no threat.

Two were killed immediately, and the third ran back into the building screaming for help in Hebrew. The commander issued an order to cease fire, but another burst of gunfire killed the third man, the official said.

Israeli media gave a more detailed account. The mass circulation daily newspaperYediot Ahronot said that according to an investigation into the incident, soldiers followed the third man and shouted at him to come out, and at least one soldier shot him when he emerged from a staircase.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz gave a similar account, saying the soldiers who followed the third hostage believed he was a Hamas member trying to trick them. Local media reported that soldiers earlier had seen a nearby building marked with "SOS" and "Help! Three hostages," but feared it might be a trap.

Bombardment continues across Gaza

Israeli forces bombarded targets across Gaza on Saturday, including a crowded YMCA building, with dozens of Palestinians reported killed or wounded.

Two Christian women who had taken refuge in a church complex in Gaza were shot dead by an Israeli soldier, Catholic Church authorities said. Seven other people were shot and wounded. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

In Khan Younis in Gaza's south, Palestinian health officials said the Nasser Hospital had received 20 Palestinians killed in airstrikes overnight, in addition to dozens of wounded, including women and children.

Palestinian health officials also said Israeli strikes on Gaza City in the north had hit the YMCA headquarters, which is sheltering hundreds of displaced people, and reported several dead and wounded.

The Israeli military said it was "operating to dismantle Hamas military and administrative capabilities."

Israel's retaliation to the Oct. 7 attack has killed more than 18,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, which is considered credible by the UN butdoes not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths. The ministry says two-third of the deaths are women and minors.

Israeli bombardment has flattened much of northern Gaza and driven 85 per centof the territory's population of 2.3 million from their homes. Displaced people have squeezed into shelters, mainly in the south.

Only a trickle of aid has been able to enter Gaza, which aid groups say is spiralling into a humanitarian crisis. Israel has said it would open a second entry point at the border inKerem Shalom to speed up deliveries.

Funeral for Al Jazeera camera operator

Dozens of mourners held funeral prayers Saturday for Samer Abu Daqqa, a Palestinian journalist working for the Al Jazeera network who was killed Friday in an Israeli strike in Khan Younis.

He was injured along with a colleague, Wael al Dahdouh, while covering the bombing of a school, Al Jazeera said in an earlier statement. Rescuers were unable to reach Abu Daqqa to take him to a hospital.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, the camera operatorwas the 64th journalist to be killed since the conflict erupted: 57 Palestinians, four Israelis and three Lebanese.