Israel admits troops’ presence led to murder of Gaza hostages

A military probe finds that IDF ‘ground activities’ led to the deaths of six hostages in August; PM reports ‘progress’ in ceasefire negotiations.

Israelis call for the release of Israeli hostages in front of the Israeli Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv. Picture: AFP.

The Israeli army says it has concluded that military operations in southern Gaza likely led to the killing by Hamas of six hostages in August.

As the fighting churns on, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meanwhile said that an Israeli delegation returned from a “significant” round of talks in Qatar aiming to secure a truce and the release of dozens of hostages still held in the Gaza Strip.

In late August, after troops found the six hostages’ bodies in an underground shaft in Rafah, the military said they were killed just before soldiers reached them.

Mr Netanyahu said at the time that the six -- Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Ori Danino -- were “executed” with a bullet “to the head”.

The military probe into their deaths found that Israeli “ground activities in the area, although gradual and cautious, had a circumstantial influence on the terrorists’ decision to murder the six hostages”, the army said in a statement on Tuesday.

It said that “based on the investigation, the hostages were murdered by gunfire from Hamas terrorists” while Israeli forces were operating in the Tel al-Sultan area.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group responded to the army’s statement by calling for action to bring back all remaining hostages.

“The time has come to bring back all the hostages. We need a deal that will ensure the return of all hostages within a quick and predetermined timeframe,” the group said in a statement.

Indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, have taken place in Doha in recent days, rekindling hope of an agreement that has proven elusive.

On Monday, Mr Netanyahu told parliament there was “some progress” in the negotiations, and on Tuesday his office said Israeli negotiators had returned from Qatar after “significant negotiations”.

“The team is returning for internal consultations in Israel regarding the continuation of negotiations for the return of our hostages,” it added.

As Hamas and other Palestinian groups also reported progress in the talks, a former Israeli hostage who spend seven weeks in captivity died, becoming the first of the former hostages to pass away over a year after she was released alongside dozens of others in a hostage exchange deal.

A statement from her Nir Oz kibbutz announced the passing of Hanna Katzir, 76, who was taken hostage with her son, Elad, during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Ms Katzir’s family reported soon after her release that she had returned in poor health and needed to be hospitalised for heart issues that she had developed during her captivity, blaming “difficult conditions and starvation” for the deterioration in her health.

An Israeli government official said Ms Katzir had been recognised as a victim of the Hamas attack.

“Hanna Katzir, kidnapped from her home in Nir Oz during the massacre on October 7th and released during the ceasefire on November 24, 2023, died on December 24, 2024, after a complex medical situation since her release. She has been recognised as a victim of terrorism,” the official said in a statement.

Ms Katzir’s husband, Rami, was killed in their home on that day. The body of Elad, 47, who later died in captivity, was brought back to Israel in April and buried in Nir Oz. Katzir was also buried on the kibbutz on Tuesday afternoon.

The war was sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, during which militants seized 251 hostages.

Ninety-six of them are still held in Gaza, including 34 the army says are dead.

AFP