The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) have mistakenly killed three Israelis held hostage by the Hamas Freedom Fighters, on Saturdday, in the Gaza Strip.
According to a Deutche Welle report quoting the Israeli military, the hostages were carrying a stick with a makeshift white flag, at the tine IDF shot them dead.
The accidental killing of three Israeli hostages by the Israeli military in Gaza is now agitating the minds of the families of those still being held captive by Hamas group on Saturday.
Hundreds have gathered in Tel Aviv to protest over the hostage killings.
At a gathering in Tel Aviv, relatives called for Israel to end the conflict and make a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum organised the gathering.
“We only receive dead bodies. We want you to stop the fight and start negotiations,” Noam Perry, daughter of hostage Haim Perry, said.
Another relative, Ruby Chen, father of 19-year-old captive soldier Itai said: “We feel like we’re in a Russian roulette game.
“We are waiting to find out who will be next in line to be told of the death of their loved one”.
The Times of Israel spoke to Dany Elgarat, whose brother, Yitzhak, is in Hamas’ captivity.
Elgarat said he blamed the Israeli government for the accidental killing of the hostages, not the soldiers who shot them.
He vowed to “set up encampment” outside nearby military base until there is “an Israeli plan for swap with Hamas”.
Raz Ben Ami, who regained freedom during last month’s temporary truce, said she won’t give up until her husband, Ohad, also regain freedom.
“A military operation alone will not save the lives of the hostages,” she told the Times of Israel.
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“You promised you’d return the hostages alive, what are you waiting for?”
Hamas took around 240 Israelis hostage during its Oct. 7 terror attacks on Israel, dubbed “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood”.
Hamas are still holding more than 130 Israeli soldiers captive in Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said killings were an “unbearable tragedy”.
Meanwhile, Palestinians have mourned slain Al Jazeera journalist, Samer Abu Daqqa, during Gaza funeral.
Mourners held a funeral, on Saturday, for the cameraman, Abu Daqqa, killed on Friday in an airstrike in southern Gaza.
Dozens of journalists took part in the procession of sending off Samer Abu Daqqa, whose body was carried through the southern city of Khan Younis, where Israel has intensified its military operations.
Fellow journalists carried the body of the slain journalist with his bullet-proof vest and helmet lain on top.
They buried him in a grave, which they dug.
Abu Daqqa was reporting from a school in Khan Younis when an Israeli drone hit the school, Al Jazeera said.
His mother accused Israel of targeting journalists, “especially those working for Al Jazeera”.
The Qatari outlet has unusual access to Gaza in the midst of the fighting.
The Israeli army told the French AFP news agency it takes “operationally feasible measures” to protect both civilians and journalists in Gaza.
“Given the ongoing exchanges of fire, remaining in an active combat zone has inherent risks,” it said. (Deutche Welle)
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