Israel admits it ‘killed three hostages by mistake’ throughout air strike

Israel has admitted that there is a ‘high probability’ that its military killed three hostages taken by Hamas in a November airstrike. 

The bodies of Corporal Nik Beizer, Sergeant Ron Sherman and French-Israeli Elia Toledano, were brought back to Israel in December, after they were taken by Hamas’ militants during the deadly October 7 incursion. 

The IDF said in a statement today that the three men were ‘killed as a result of a byproduct of an IDF air strike, during the elimination of the Hamas Northern Brigade commander, Ahmed Ghandour, on November 10th, 2023.’

The military claimed that the men were in a tunnel complex where the top Hamas commander was hiding.

‘At the time of the strike, the IDF did not have information about the presence of hostages in the targeted compound,’ the military said.

‘Furthermore, there was information suggesting that they were located elsewhere, and thus the area was not designated as one with suspected presence of hostages.’

A spokesperson for the Hostage Families Forum told MailOnline: ‘This underscores the severe risk to the lives of the hostages in captivity. Each passing moment endangers them further. 

‘We know the hostages are held in inhumane conditions, tortured by Hamas and deprived of basic human rights. The only way to ensure their safe return is through a negotiated deal and not military pressure.’ 

The retaliatory invasion of the Gaza Strip, now in its 11th month, has been widely condemned by Israelis, many of whom have been marching to end the war. 

Photos from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem taken over the past few weeks showed countless Israelis marching to protest prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to carry on the military operation in Gaza, accusing him of not doing enough to reach a ceasefire deal to bring the remaining 97 hostages. 

The conflict has rippled out further in the Middle East, with Iran and allied militant groups attacking Israeli and U.S. targets and drawing retaliatory strikes from Israel and its Western allies. On several occasions, the strikes and counterstrikes have threatened to trigger a wider conflict.

A missile fired by Yemen’s Iran-backed rebels landed in an open area in central Israel early Sunday and triggered air raid sirens at its international airport, in the latest reverberation from the nearly yearlong war in Gaza. Israel hinted that it would respond militarily.

There were no reports of casualties or major damage, but Israeli media aired footage showing people racing to shelters in Ben Gurion International Airport. The airport authority said that it resumed normal operations shortly thereafter.

A fire could be seen in a rural area of central Israel, and local media showed images of what appeared to be a fragment from an interceptor that landed on an escalator in a train station in the central town of Modiin.

Israel’s army said the surface-to-surface missile was intercepted by Israel’s defense system, which hit and fragmented the target but did not destroy it. It said the missile appeared to have fragmented midair. The military said the sound of explosions in the area came from interceptors.

The Yemeni rebels, known as Houthis, have repeatedly fired drones and missiles toward Israel since the start of the war in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, but nearly all of them have been intercepted over the Red Sea.

In July, an Iranian-made drone launched by the Houthis struck Tel Aviv, killing one person and wounding 10 others. Israel responded with a wave of airstrikes on Houthi-held areas of Yemen, including the port city of Hodeidah, a Houthi stronghold.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted at a similar response in remarks at a Cabinet meeting after Sunday’s attack.

‘The Houthis should have known by now that we exact a heavy price for any attempt to harm us,’ he said. ‘Anyone who needs a reminder is invited to visit the port of Hodeidah.’

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a military spokesman for the rebels, said they fired a ballistic missile targeting ‘a military target’ in the area of Tel Aviv.

The Houthis have also repeatedly attacked commercial shipping in the Red Sea, in what the rebels portray as a blockade on Israel in support of the Palestinians. Most of the targeted ships have no connection to Israel.

On Sunday, a European Union naval mission operating in the Red Sea said salvagers had begun towing a tanker that had been on fire for weeks after a Houthi attack. Operations Aspides said the Greek-flagged Sounion was being taken to a ‘safe location.’

Hezbollah has said it would halt its attacks if there is a cease-fire in Gaza. The United States and Arab mediators Egypt and Qatar have spent much of this year trying to broker a truce and the release of scores of hostages held by Hamas, but the talks have repeatedly bogged down.

In recent weeks, Netanyahu has insisted on lasting Israeli control over the Gaza side of the border with Egypt, which Israeli forces captured in May. He has said Hamas used a network of tunnels beneath the border to import arms, allegations denied by Egypt, which along with Hamas is opposed to any lasting Israeli presence there.

An Israeli military official said late Saturday that of the dozens of tunnels discovered along the border, only nine entered Egypt, and all were found to have been sealed off. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence, said that it wasn’t clear when the tunnels were sealed.

The discovery appeared to weaken Netanyahu’s argument that Israel needs to keep open-ended control of the corridor to prevent cross-border smuggling.

Egypt has said it sealed off the tunnels on its side of the border years ago, in part by creating its own military buffer zone along the frontier.