Several hundred families, friends and supporters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza rallied Saturday in Tel Aviv at the "Hostages Plaza," calling on the Israeli government to negotiate the hostages' release.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the hostages' deaths an "unbearable tragedy" and vowed to continue "with a supreme effort to return all the hostages home safely."
The army's chief spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said Israeli troops erroneously identified the hostages as a threat and fired on them Friday as they were coming out of a building waving a white flag to show that they were posing no threat.
He said it was not clear whether the hostages had escaped their captors or had been abandoned. Their deaths occurred in Gaza's Sheijaia, the scene of bloody battles between Israel's military and Hamas militants. Hagari said the army expressed "deep sorrow" and is investigating.
After the first two hostages were shot, the third young man 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, an Israeli military official said.
According to a preliminary investigation, the soldiers who followed the third hostage into the building believed he was a Hamas member trying to pull them into a trap, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.
The soldiers' behavior was "against our rules of engagement," the military official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told reporters. He noted the incident was being investigated at the highest level.
The account of how the hostages died raises 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 gunfire or airstrikes, without presenting evidence.
Intense fighting continued Saturday in Gaza between Israeli forces and the U.S.- and EU-designated terror group Hamas — despite urgings from U.S. officials for Israel to use more precise targeting of Hamas leaders in Gaza, rather than widespread bombing and ground operations.
Residents in northern Gaza reported heavy bombing and the sounds of gunbattles overnight and into Saturday in Gaza City and the nearby urban refugee camp of Jabaliya.
Airstrikes and tank shelling overnight also were reported in the cities of Khan Younis and Rafah. Palestinian media said Saturday dozens of Palestinians were killed in the airstrikes.
The Israeli army said Saturday it had raided two schools in Gaza City, saying they were a Hamas hiding place. On Friday, the military said its troops had destroyed a Hamas command-and-control hub in Gaza's Sheijaia district and conducted a "targeted raid" on militant infrastructure in Khan Younis.
US envoy
During a visit to Israel, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Washington was urging Israel to use more precise targeting of Hamas leaders in Gaza, rather than widespread bombing and ground operations.
"There will be a transition to another phase of this war, one that is focused in more precise ways on targeting the leadership and on intelligence-driven operations," he told reporters Friday following two days of meetings with Israeli officials.
So far, the Israel Defense Forces have resisted increasing global pressure to curb the Gaza offensive.
Sullivan also met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday. During the meeting, Abbas called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and increased aid for the enclave.
The Middle East has been a tinderbox since Iranian-backed Hamas launched a terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, killing at least 1,200 people while taking about 240 people hostage, according to Israel. Israel's retaliatory strikes and ground offensive have killed more than 18,000 Palestinians, a large percentage of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
While reiterating U.S. support for Israel and its military response to the deadly Hamas attack against Israel two months ago, U.S. President Joe Biden and other officials have expressed concern about the number of civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip.
Israel has defended its tactics, saying it is taking unprecedented steps to minimize civilian casualties, such as ordering people to evacuate areas where it plans to carry out military operations.
Israel's military also has blamed Hamas for intentionally operating in populated areas.
The U.N. Palestinian refugee agency says nearly 1.9 million people, about 85% of Gaza's population, have been forced from their homes, with more than 1.1 million currently registered at the agency's shelters in central and southern Gaza. The agency said the average shelter is nine times over its intended capacity.
VOA White House Correspondent Anita Powell contributed to this report. Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
