Netanyahu describes "unbearable tragedy" after 3 hostages accidentally killed by Israeli military in Gaza
From CNN's Tamar Michaelis
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken of his “deep sorrow” at what he called the “unbearable tragedy” of the deaths of three Israeli hostages in Gaza who were accidentally shot by Israeli soldiers.
“Along with all the people of Israel, I bow my head with deep sorrow and mourn the death of three of our dear sons who were kidnapped, among them are Yotam Haim and Samer Fouad Al-Talalka,” he said on X, formerly Twitter.
“This an unbearable tragedy. The whole state of Israel is grieving this evening. My heart goes out to the families aching during their time of immense grief. I would like to send strength to our brave soldiers focusing on this sacred mission of returning our hostages, even with the price of sacrificing their own lives,” he added.
“Even on this difficult evening we shall dress our wounds, learn the lessons and continue carrying this supreme effort to return all our hostages home safely,” Netanyahu said.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also said his thoughts were with the families of the hostages.
"This is a painful incident for every Israeli," Gallant said in a statement. "We must remain resilient and continue operating - for the hostages, for our citizens and for our soldiers."
Gallant said he had spoken to the Israel Defense Forces' chief of the general staff "in order to learn lessons immediately."
3:35 p.m. ET, December 15, 2023
Israeli troops in Gaza told to "exercise additional caution" following hostage killings
From CNN's Michael Conte
IDF Spokesperson Lt. Col Jonathan Conricus is interviewed by CNN on Friday, December 15. CNN
Israeli soldiers are being told to “exercise additional caution” when encountering people in civilian clothes, military spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said Friday, after the Israel Defense Forces said it accidentally killed three Israeli hostages in Gaza.
Conricus' remarks come after IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said “lessons and relevant instructions concerning the identification of hostages in battle zones have been immediately communicated to all IDF forces across the whole Gaza Strip.”
Conricus claimed “almost all of the RPG crews” and others attacking IDF forces in Gaza “have been dressed in civilian clothes.”
“What we have told our troops is to be extra vigilant and do one more safety check before dealing with kinetics with any threat that they face on the battlefield,” he said. “But it is a very challenging environment that our troops are in.”
2:56 p.m. ET, December 15, 2023
Key member of Israeli war cabinet vows to do "everything" to bring hostages home alive after mistaken killings
From Tamar Michaelis
Benny Gantz, a key member of Israel’s war cabinet, has reacted to the news that three Israeli hostages in Gaza were accidentally shot and killed by Israeli troops Friday.
"The heart is shattered after learning about this tragedy tonight. I ask to embrace the families - all the people of Israel are crying along with you," Gantz wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter. "I would like to give strength to all the families of hostages as well as to the soldiers who are deep in the field and conduct a complicated and important mission like no other before, since the country was founded."
"The pain accompanying the campaign, is now even bigger due to this difficult incident. Our responsibility is to win the war, and part of that victory would be to return the hostages home," he continued. "We will do everything to return them alive. Everything."
Remember: Gantz, the former Israeli defense minister and political rival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is part of the emergency government and war management cabinet formed after Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel. He was among several leading opposition members in Israel's parliament to join the hastily constructed war cabinet.
CNN's Sugam Pokharel contributed reporting to this post.
9:50 p.m. ET, December 15, 2023
Israeli military accidentally shoots and kills 3 Israelis held hostage in Gaza
From CNN's Tamar Michaelis
Israeli hostages held in Gaza, Yotam Haim (left) and Samer Talalka, were shot and killed by Israeli military accidentally. Hostages and Missing Families Forum
The Israel Defense Forces says that three Israeli hostages in Gaza were mistakenly identified as a threat and shot dead.
“During combat in Shejaiya (in northern Gaza), the IDF mistakenly identified three Israeli hostages as a threat. As a result, the troops fired toward them and they were killed,” IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said at a briefing Friday.
“During searches and checks in the area in which the incident occurred, a suspicion arose over the identities of the deceased. Their bodies were transferred to Israeli territory for examination, after which it was confirmed that they were three Israeli hostages,” he added.
The hostages have been identified as:
Yotam Haim, who was kidnapped from kibbutz Kfar Aza
Samer Talalka, who was kidnapped from kibbutz Nir Am
Another male hostage whose family requested that his name not be published
The IDF began reviewing the incident immediately, Hagari said.
Responding to a reporter's question, Hagari said IDF officials "assume that the three Israelis killed either escaped or were abandoned by the terrorists" during ongoing fighting in Shejaiya.
He said he was unable to answer immediately whether the three men had put their hands up or shouted to the soldiers in Hebrew.
“The IDF emphasizes that this is an active combat zone in which ongoing fighting over the last few days has occurred. Immediate lessons from the event have been learned, which have been passed on to all IDF troops in the field,” Hagari said.
“The IDF expresses deep remorse over the tragic incident and sends the families its heartfelt condolences. Our national mission is to locate the missing and return all the hostages home,” he added.
4:34 p.m. ET, December 15, 2023
Al Jazeera cameraman killed by Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza, network says
From CNN’s Abeer Salman, Eve Brennan and Kareem Khadder in Jerusalem
A still from a video of AI Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa. From AI Jazeera
Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa has died of wounds sustained in an Israeli airstrike on Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the TV network said Friday.
Daqqa had been trapped in a Haifa school, where he was working on assignment when it came under fire, the network said earlier Friday. Ambulances were unable to reach the wounded cameraman, according to journalists in Gaza, and the network said he had been stuck there bleeding for five hours.
Al Jazeera aired video showing friends and family of Daqqa, including his mother, crying over his body at the Al Nasser medical complex near Khan Younis.
His mother was seen being carried by two people saying, “He hasn’t seen his children, he hasn’t seen his children.”
According to Al Jazeera, he was born in 1978 and his wife and children — three boys and a girl — are in Belgium.
An investigative reporter for the outlet, Tamer Almisshal, described Abu Daqqa “as a great cameraman and editor, doesn’t fear anything, and professional.”
“I spoke to him a few days ago and told him, ‘Why don’t you join your family abroad?’ And he told me they will be back soon when this war is over," the journalist said.
Daqqa had told him, “I won’t leave Gaza,” Almisshal said, adding that he had worked for more than 20 years for Al Jazeera.
At least 17 people were killed and dozens of others were wounded early Friday after artillery fire struck the Haifa school and a residential home in Khan Younis.
CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment on its military operations in the area.
Khan Younis has been heavily bombarded by the Israeli military since a fragile truce between Hamas and Israel broke down on December 1.
Workers killed: Three civil defense workers in Gaza whose rescue efforts were being covered by the Al Jazeera team were also killed Friday, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Interior.
“Three members of our crews were martyred as a result of being bombed by Israeli occupation aircraft during their humanitarian work while rescuing citizens in Farhana School in central Khan Yunis Governorate," the ministry said on Telegram.
Fellow journalist wounded: The airstrike also wounded Al Jazeera correspondent Wael Dahdouh, the Qatar-based news network said in a statement to CNN. Al Jazeera broadcast video of Dahdouh receiving treatment at a hospital for wounds in his right arm and abdomen while he cried out in pain.
In October, an Israeli airstrike killed Dahdouh’s wife, son and grandson, the network said. He received the news while he was on air covering the Israel-Hamas war.
Dozens of journalists have been killed covering the Israel-Hamas war, making it the most dangerous period for the profession in 31 years, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
This post has been updated to include the deaths of three civil defense workers, according to the Hamas-controlled interior ministry.
1:41 p.m. ET, December 15, 2023
WHO concerned about Gaza's degrading health care system as health needs soar, regional director says
From CNN's Eve Brennan in London
The biggest concern of the World Health Organization in Gaza is the "major degradation" of the local health system "at a time when the health needs are soaring," regional emergency director Richard Brennan told CNN.
People in Gaza face a "toxic mix" of trauma, lack of access to healthcare and increasingly infectious diseases and potentially hunger, he said.
Massive number of patients at few hospitals: Approximately 50,000 injured patients are currently overwhelming the reduced number of hospitals in Gaza, he said. "Prior to the conflict, there were 36 hospitals operating across Gaza. Now we have 11 partially operating hospitals and three, what we would call, 'minimally operating.' So, that with that massive new trauma load, you can just imagine the pressures that the doctors and nurses are working under," he said.
He applauded the "incredible dedication" of medical staff working tirelessly over more than two months to provide care "in perhaps the toughest environment that I've ever experienced."
Poor sanitary conditions: With over 80% of the strip's population displaced and overcrowding shelters, Brennan also highlighted the poor hygiene conditions. "In some of these settlements, there's only one toilet for 300 to 400 people. So, you can imagine what the sanitation system is like," he said.
Fear of disease spread: "We're seeing increased rates of infectious diseases such as respiratory infections, diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, which would give us concerns about dysentery, jaundice, which would give us concerns about hepatitis," he said.
Food insecurity: There are also "massive food deficits" in Gaza, according to Brennan, who welcomed the "good news" that the Kerem Shalom crossing will open to bring aid into Gaza. "We're only at around 100 trucks a day. Currently, we need to be at least 500," said Brennan, adding that priorities are food, clean water, shelter, and medicine.
1:25 p.m. ET, December 15, 2023
US rebukes Israel's attacks on Lebanese military amid concerns of Gaza conflict widening
From CNN's Alex Marquardt and Natasha Bertrand
Israel’s military has repeatedly attacked the US-backed Lebanese army to the north over the past two months, prompting alarm in President Joe Biden's administration and sharp rebukes from top United States officials to Israeli leadership.
The Israelis have attacked Lebanese Armed Forces positions more than 34 times since October 7, including with small arms and artillery fire, drones and helicopters, according to US officials, a regional security source, and a list of the incidents compiled by the US and reviewed by CNN.
The Biden administration has told Israel that the strikes are unacceptable, officials said. One senior US official said that the US believes at least some of those strikes have been accidental, intended instead for the powerful Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which also operates along the Lebanon-Israel border and has been hitting Israeli military positions. But the intention of other strikes has been less clear, the official said, and more junior Israeli troops may not be exercising enough restraint.
The scope of the incidents, which has not been previously reported, has frustrated US officials because the US believes the LAF will need to be part of any eventual diplomatic solution between Israel and Lebanon to quiet the current violence. The US is also deeply concerned that the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza could expand to the north, and US officials have been working with Israel and Lebanon to try to contain the war.
“The United States has been clear we do not want to see this conflict spread to Lebanon and we continue to urge the Israelis do all they can to be targeted and avoid civilians, civilian infrastructure, civilian farmland, the UN, and the Lebanese Armed Forces,” a spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council told CNN. “The United States is proud of its partnership with the LAF, an essential institution, not only to the stability and security of Lebanon, but of the entire region.”
The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Lebanese military is not as strong as Hezbollah, which gets funding, training and weapons from Iran and is one of the most formidable paramilitary forces in the Middle East. But the US backing of the LAF gives Washington a partner in an active region that it can work with on a range of priorities, including counterterrorism. The senior US official noted that the LAF is popular among the Lebanese public and, while not seen as a perfect counterweight to Hezbollah, is a neutral alternative that the US believes will be an important player in any future peace settlement.
US officials believe Israel’s attacks on the Lebanese military have resulted in at least eight injuries and one death since October 7.
EU chief reiterates support for two-state solution in the Middle East — but Israel is still opposed
From CNN’s James Frater at the European Council in Brussels
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addresses the press conference after the European Council Summit in Brussels, Belgium, on December 15.
The president of the European Commission reiterated the European Union's support for a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians, saying that "there can be no peace" unless that arrangement is on the table.
Ursula von der Leyen, speaking at a news conference in Brussels following a meeting of EU leaders, said there was a “growing consensus” of how the EU should approach “the day after” the conflict ends.
“There can be no forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza,” she said.
Adding that “Gaza cannot be a safe haven for Hamas,” and “Hamas cannot be in the governance structure of a Palestinian state.”
Von der Leyen said that “a reformed Palestinian Authority must govern both West Bank and Gaza,” and there should not be a security presence of Israel in Gaza.
Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, also discussed how the EU could offer “operational help to strengthen the Palestinian Authority,” so that it could be in a position “where it can be a credible and legitimate power, not just an administrative power, but also political power.”
Some context: Israel has continued to state that the Palestinian Authority will not assume power in Gaza, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying it would not happen as long as he is prime minister.
That idea — of a Palestinian state existing alongside the state of Israel — took off in the 1990s, with a series of agreements known as the Oslo Accords, which created, among other things, the Palestinian Authority, which assumed partial control over the West Bank and Gaza.
The Palestinian Authority was effectively driven out of Gaza by Hamas in 2007.
11:36 a.m. ET, December 15, 2023
Israel reports rocket fire toward Jerusalem for the first time in weeks
From Tamar Michaelis and CNN's Kareem Khadder
The Israel Defense Forces says several rockets have been fired toward the Jerusalem area Friday evening local time.
The IDF identified at least six launches, the military told CNN. Three of the rockets were intercepted, and three were not intercepted according to protocol, which usually means they were expected to land in open areas or didn’t pose a threat.
CNN producers in Jerusalem witnessed one of the intercepts.
The attacks mark the first time since October 30 that sirens warning of a rocket threat were activated in Jerusalem.
