WWhile the accidental killing of three Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip by its own soldiers continues to unsettle people, the government is undeterred in continuing its war against the Islamist Hamas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized that military pressure on Hamas must be maintained. This is the only way to defeat them and ensure the return of all those abducted. “We are more determined than ever to continue to the end, until we destroy Hamas and bring back all of our abductees,” Netanyahu said.
Protesters are putting pressure on Israel's government
Meanwhile, released hostages, relatives of hostages and hundreds of supporters demonstrated again in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening for the release of those still abducted in the Gaza Strip. Noam Perry, a relative of one of the hostages, accused Netanyahu's war cabinet of saying military pressure was necessary to get the hostages released. “Now more and more hostages are coming back as corpses,” said Perry. According to Israeli estimates, 112 hostages are still being held.
Meanwhile, Israel's Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi took responsibility for the accidental killing of the three Israeli hostages. “The army and I as its commander are responsible for what happened and we will do everything to prevent such cases from repeating in the future of the fighting,” he said in a video published on X.
Military chief: Shooting is not allowed when the flag is white
At the same time, he made it clear that people with a white flag who wanted to surrender should not be shot at. Rules of engagement were violated when the hostages were killed on Friday. “The three hostages did everything to make us recognize them as such – they had their shirts off so we could see they weren't wearing explosive belts, and they were holding a white flag,” Halevi said.
At the same time, he pointed out that the soldiers were in an active combat zone. Terrorists are active there in civilian clothing and every decision in a split second can mean the difference between life and death. The only consolation for the families of the fallen soldiers is that their deaths were not in vain, said Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, according to the newspaper “The Times of Israel”. Therefore, they will “ensure that we continue to fight until we achieve total victory,” said Netanyahu.
The situation for civilians in Gaza remains unbearable
Meanwhile, the situation of the Palestinian civilian population remains unbearable. Gaza's heavily damaged main hospital, Al-Shifa, is only “minimally functional” and urgently needs to be able to resume at least the most basic functions “to continue to serve the thousands of people in need of life-saving medical care,” the WHO said on Sunday.
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