Israel admits killing hostages in attack on Hamas

According to military sources, the Israeli Air Force has attacked a building in the northern Gaza Strip that had served as a school before the war. There was initially no information on possible casualties. The Israeli army accused the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas of having set up a command and control center in the building in Beit Hanun. Rocket attacks on Israeli targets have been carried out from there in recent weeks.

The military said that measures had been taken before the attack to reduce the danger to civilians. Palestinian eyewitnesses reported that the army initially fired a single rocket, apparently with the aim of getting refugees to leave the building. Last month, the army called on the residents of Beit Hanun to flee.

According to Palestinian sources, 18 people were killed in an attack on another former school building in Nuseirat on Wednesday. According to the UN, six UN employees were among them. The Israeli army then named nine suspected Hamas terrorists who were killed in the attack. Among them were three employees of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA). These allegations could not be independently verified.

Israel kills three hostages in tunnels

According to military sources, three Israeli hostages who were found dead in the Gaza Strip last year were most likely killed in Israeli bombardment. The Israeli army published the conclusions of an investigation, which were also presented to the families. Two of the men were soldiers, the third – who also had French citizenship – had been kidnapped from the Nova music festival.

The three were most likely killed in an airstrike on November 10, 2023, in which a high-ranking Hamas commander was deliberately killed, the army said in a statement. However, the circumstances of their deaths could not be clarified beyond all doubt. The assessment is based on a combination of the location where they were found, analysis of the attack, intelligence information and forensic investigations.

Army mourns with families

The men were held in a tunnel complex where the Hamas commander was staying. “At the time of the attack, the Israeli army had no information about the presence of hostages in the facility that was the target.” The military is doing everything it can to prevent harm to hostages. The army “shares the families’ grief over the terrible loss and will continue to support them.”

Relatives of the hostages had repeatedly warned the political leadership and the army that the heavy bombardments in the Gaza Strip also endangered the lives of the abductees.

Number of living hostages unknown

In an attack on October 7, terrorists from Hamas and other extremist organizations killed more than 1,200 people in Israel and took about 250 others hostage to Gaza. The unprecedented massacre triggered the current war. Since the war began, the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza has risen to more than 41,200, according to local authorities. The number does not distinguish between fighters and civilians and is difficult to verify.

According to Israeli information, around 100 hostages are still being held by Hamas. It is unclear how many of them are still alive almost a year after their kidnapping.