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Desperate: Yakov Argamani, father of Hamas hostage Noa Argamani, at the demonstration against Israel's government in Tel Aviv on Friday evening
Photograph:
Alberto Pizzoli / AFP
The three Israeli Hamas hostages who shot Israeli soldiers in Gaza had previously held up a white flag. This was the result of an initial investigation, an Israeli military spokesman announced on Saturday.
The incident took place in an area where there was intense fighting, the spokesman said. Hamas fighters operated in civilian clothes and used deceptive tactics. However, the spokesman also admitted that the hostages had been shot at contrary to Israeli rules of engagement.
The new details of the killing of the three people are likely to further increase public pressure on Israel's military and the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Friday, the army said that during fighting in the Gaza Strip, the hostages were accidentally killed by soldiers. During an operation in the Hamas stronghold of Shejaiya in the north of the cordoned-off coastal strip, the armed forces falsely identified them as a threat and shot at them.
As a result, hundreds of people demonstrated in Tel Aviv on Friday evening for a new hostage deal between Israel and Hamas. Images on Israeli television showed large crowds gathering in the center of the coastal metropolis and blocking a main road. They called on the government to work for the immediate release of the hostages from the Gaza Strip.
With placards, banners and posters with the names and pictures of many other hostages, the demonstrators marched in the direction of the headquarters of the Israeli army. As the Ynet news site reported, they poured red paint on the street. "Your time is running out! Bring her home now," the people shouted. Netanyahu had described the deaths of the three hostages as an "intolerable tragedy" and expressed his condolences to the families.
Israel's government and military are increasingly criticized for their actions in the Gaza war, including by allies. For example, US President Joe Biden recently declared that the Israelis should focus on the question of how they could spare civilians. The armed forces should be "more careful" in their fight against Hamas.
According to Israeli estimates, 112 hostages are still being held in the Gaza Strip. Furthermore, Hamas does not hand over the bodies of 20 abductees, Netanyahu's office said on Friday. How it is known which deportees are dead was not communicated.
che/Reuters