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Israeli forces mistakenly kill 3 hostages during fighting in Gaza, IDF says
(JTA) – Israeli soldiers accidentally killed three hostages during combat in Gaza, an Israel Defense Forces spokesman said.
The soldiers mistakenly identified the hostages as a threat during fighting on Friday in Shejaiya, a neighborhood that is a Hamas stronghold in the Gaza City area, said Daniel Hagari, the IDF spokesman.
After combat in the area, troops conducted a sweep and found the bodies, “raising suspicions about their identity,” Hagari said in a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. The bodies were taken to Israeli territory and identified as Israeli hostages.
The hostages were identified as Yotam Haim and Alon Shimriz, who were captured from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, and Samer Talalkah, who was taken from Nir Oz. All three were captured by Hamas on Oct. 7, Hagari said. The families were notified of the hostages’ deaths by representatives from the IDF and Israel Police.
Earlier Friday, the IDF said troops had recovered the bodies of three other hostages, including two soldiers and one civilian. All were captured by Hamas on Oct. 7.
The hostages’ killings occurred two weeks after fighting in Gaza resumed following a seven-day truce. During that pause in combat, Hamas released more than 100 hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli prison on security offenses. Israel estimates that Hamas is still holding more than 130 hostages.
In the period since the truce, the families of the remaining hostages have pressured the Israeli government to resume negotiations toward their release, marching on Israel’s parliament earlier this week. Some of the protesters expressed worry that their relatives would be killed if a deal was not reached.
“This is a sad and tragic event that pains us all,” Hagari said at a press briefing. “The IDF expresses its deep sorrow over the incident and shares the grief of the families.”
The incident occurred in an area that has seen heavy combat in recent days, said Hagari, who added that it would be investigated. IDF troops had encountered enemy combatants including suicide bombers who were otherwise unarmed, and ambush attempts, in the area of the killings.
The three hostages were apparently on their own before they were killed. In response to a reporter’s question, Hagari said it was still unclear if the hostages had escaped their captors or been abandoned.
Friendly fire between Israeli troops had already caused casualties among Israeli soldiers ahead of the hostages’ deaths. On Tuesday, the IDF released data indicating that 20 troops had been killed by friendly fire and other accidents, the Times of Israel reported. The figure amounted to nearly 20% of the 105 military deaths at the time.
The deaths were caused by Israeli forces mistakenly identifying their own as enemy combatants, errant gunfire, armored vehicles running over troops, and shrapnel from Israeli explosives hitting Israeli soldiers.
The number of soldiers killed since the beginning of Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza rose to 119 on Friday, when the IDF said that three soldiers were killed in combat.
The deaths come as Israeli forces continue intense airstrikes and ground fighting in Gaza, which has elicited heavy international pressure to stop the fighting.
Israel has vowed to press on with the campaign to destroy Hamas after the terror group invaded on Oct. 7, killing an estimated 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and committing numerous other atrocities.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says more than 18,000 people have been killed in Gaza. The figure cannot be independently verified, and does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, or those killed by errant Palestinian rockets. The IDF says it has killed thousands of enemy fighters in the campaign, estimating that it has killed two civilians for every Hamas fighter.
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The post Israeli forces mistakenly kill 3 hostages during fighting in Gaza, IDF says appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.