what to remember from December 16

Families of hostages are calling on the government to “stop fighting and negotiate” their release, while the Israeli army admits to having killed three Israelis held in Gaza “by mistake”.

The war between Israel and Hamas entered its 71st day on Saturday, December 16. The Israeli army has given initial information on the events which led it to “by mistake” shoot down three hostages held in Gaza. A journalist from the Qatari channel Al Jazeera killed by an Israeli strike has been buried. Here is what to remember from this new day in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Families of hostages call to “stop fighting and negotiate”, Benjamin Netanyahu refuses

“Stop fighting and negotiate”demanded from the Israeli government the families of hostages held in Gaza, during a rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday, December 16. “We are only recovering dead bodies. We want you to stop the fighting and start negotiations”said Noam Perry, the daughter of one of the hostages, as the country mourns after three hostages were shot dead “by mistake” by the Israeli army.

Appeals rejected by Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli Prime Minister assured that “military pressure is important for victory and the return of the hostages” and that the destruction of Hamas was “the desire of the majority of the population in Israel”.

Israeli army admits killing three hostages ‘by mistake’

The three Israeli hostages killed “by mistake” by their own soldiers in the Gaza Strip on Friday, were shirtless and one of them carried a white flag, according to the first elements of the investigation carried out by the Israeli Defense Forces. The victims are Yotam Haïm, a 28-year-old drummer in a heavy metal band, Samer al-Talalqa, a 25-year-old Bedouin, and Alon Lulu Shamriz, 26, the Israeli army announced, specifying that the bodies had been repatriated to Israel.

According to an army statement, one of the Israeli soldiers believed it was a trap set by Hamas when he saw these three men coming out of a building. The Israeli army says it “understands what could have led the soldiers to act in this way”, because “the only people wearing civilian clothes [dans la zone] are members of Hamas.

Two women killed in Gaza Catholic parish by Israeli soldier

A mother and her daughter were killed by an Israeli soldier in the complex housing the only Catholic church in Gaza City, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said on Saturday, December 16. “The majority of Christian families in Gaza [y] have found refuge since the start of the war”, adds the press release, without specifying the age of the victims. Seven other people were injured by bullets as they tried to protect themselves from the shooting, according to the same source. The Israeli army, contacted by AFP, did not immediately comment on this information.

Israel announces the end of an operation around a hospital in Gaza, Hamas denounces “a massacre”

“Soldiers arrested around 80 terrorists”, “destroyed terrorist infrastructure and located numerous weapons” in the Kamal Adwan hospital, according to the Israeli army, which specified that medical personnel had been “interrogates”. “Staff admitted weapons were hidden in incubators supposedly used for premature babies”according to the army.

Hamas, for its part, denounced “horrible massacre” in the hospital, the army having “destroyed the tents of the displaced with bulldozers” who had taken refuge there, causing “a number of deaths”. The spokesperson for the Hamas Ministry of Health said on Wednesday that the army had fired on patient rooms at the Kamal Adwan hospital in Gaza City, and denounced “seat” of several days, reporting arrests of staff members.

Funeral of a journalist from the Qatari channel Al Jazeera killed by an Israeli strike

Dozens of journalists participated in the funeral of Samer Abou Daqa, cameraman for the Qatari channel Al Jazeera, killed the day before by an Israeli strike in the south of the Gaza Strip. His remains were transported through the crowd to Khan Younes, before being buried in a grave dug by colleagues.

The journalist was reporting from a school in Khan Younes when he was hit by an Israeli drone attack. Seriously injured, he remained for hours at the scene of the strike because “Israeli forces prevented ambulances” to achieve this, according to the television channel. The Israeli army, for its part, claimed to have approved an access route for a Palestinian ambulance but that it had chosen to take another route and found itself blocked. She also assured that she “never deliberately targets journalists” and takes “all possible operational measures to protect civilians and journalists”.

Israeli soldier killed in northern Israel by ‘enemy air vehicle’

The Israeli army announced on Saturday that one soldier had been killed and two others had been injured by a “enemy air vehicle” in the Margaliot region in northern Israel, near the Lebanese border. A spokesperson confirmed to AFP that the victims had been killed by a “enemy air vehicle”.

Drone attacks foiled in the Red Sea

A US destroyer shot down 14 drones launched from Yemen. Earlier today, a British destroyer shot down a “alleged attack drone which targeted the merchant navy”. The Yemeni Houthi rebels, close to Hamas and Iran, and who control a large part of Yemen, have warned that they will target ships sailing off the coast of Yemen and having links to Israel.