Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an address that the killings of three Israeli hostages in Gaza “broke the entire nation’s heart,” but he indicated no change in Israel’s intensive military campaign, after it emerged that the three Israeli hostages killed by the Israel Defence Forces were shirtless and carrying a white flag when they were shot, according to an initial military investigation.

“We are as committed as ever to continue until the end, until we dismantle Hamas, until we return all our hostages,” he told a press conference.

Meanwhile, Israel appeared to confirm that new negotiations were under way to recover hostages held by Hamas, after a source said Israel’s intelligence chief met the prime minister of Qatar, a country mediating in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, David Barnea, met Qatari prime minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani late on Friday, according to a source with knowledge of the matter, Reuters reports, as attention turned to a possible Gaza truce and a prisoner and hostage deal.

More on those stories soon. In other developments as it turns just past 8.30am in Gaza City and Tel Aviv:

The UK and Germany have called for a “sustainable” ceasefire in the Gaza conflict, warning that “too many civilians have been killed” by Israel in spite of its right to eliminate the threat posed by Hamas. In a significant shift in tone, the UK’s foreign secretary, David Cameron, in a joint article with the German foreign affairs minister, Annalena Baerbock, wrote: “Our goal cannot simply be an end to fighting today. It must be peace lasting for days, years, generations. We therefore support a ceasefire, but only if it is sustainable.
“There is a prolonged communications blackout across the Gaza strip that started on Thursday night and has continued over the past 48 hours,” the UNRWA said on Saturday. “Once again, Gazans find themselves completely isolated – cut off from their loved ones and from the rest of the world.”
Al Jazeera has instructed its legal team to refer the case of what it called “the assassination” of its journalist Samer Abudaqa to the International Criminal Court. In a statement released on Saturday, the network said: “In addition to the assassination of Abudaqa by the Israeli occupation forces in the Gaza strip, the legal file will also encompass recurrent attacks on the network’s crews working and operating in the occupied territories through killing or intentionally physical assault constitutes a war crime.”
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue Israel’s war in Gaza while mourning the accidental killing of three Israeli hostages by Israeli forces. Speaking at a press conference on Saturday about Yotam Haim, Samar Al Talalka and Alon Shamriz – the three hostages who were killed by Israeli forces – Netanyahu said that their deaths “broke the hearts of the nation” but vowed to “continue until victory”.
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Tel Aviv in anger and frustration over the Israeli government’s handling of the hostage crisis. Many chanted “Deal now!” in calls for a deal to be agreed upon as soon as possible to rescue the remaining hostages.

Families of Israeli hostages protest against the government, demanding a hostage deal in Tel Aviv. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

A contractor working for the US Agency for International Development in Gaza was killed alongside his wife and two daughters in an Israeli airstrike in November, said his employer.“We are deeply saddened to confirm the tragic loss of our colleague, Hani Jnena (33), along with his family in Gaza, including his wife, Abeer (32), and their two young daughters, Mariam and Zayna, aged 4 and 2,” Reuters reports non-profit organization Global Communities as saying in a statement.
Two Palestinian men were killed by Israeli forces in separate incidents in the West Bank on Saturday, Reuters reports the Palestinian health ministry as saying. A 20-year-old man who was identified as Aziz Abdulrahim Elkhlail by the Palestinian news agency WAFA was shot in the abdomen by Israeli forces in the town of Beit Ummar. He later died from his injuries. Another 25-year-old man was killed by Israeli forces in the city of Tulkarm, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Philippe Lazzarini, the chief of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, has condemned the “smear campaigns that target Palestinians and those who provide aid to them”, saying that he is “horrified”. Speaking to reporters at the Global Refugee Forum, Lazzarini said: “This war is also fought on TV screens and on social media. It’s also a media war. I am horrified at the smear campaigns that target Palestinians and those who provide aid to them.”

Темы и теги

Газа Военные Действия

Газой Великобритания Нетаньяху война газа живой обязанный прекращение огонь призыв