A senior Israeli envoy on Saturday (Dec 16) held a meeting with the prime minister of Qatar, a key mediator in the ongoing conflict in Gaza, news agency Reuters reported citing sources.
As per reports, sources from Egypt suggested that Israel appeared to be more open to a new deal with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The meeting that took place between David Barnea and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was the very first one between senior officials from Israel and Qatar.
In another sign of a possible breakthrough, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would convene his security cabinet and deliver a televised statement on Saturday evening.
Hostages killed by Israeli army
In another development from the ongoing conflict, the Israeli army on Saturday said that at least three hostages were mistakenly killed by the Israeli army were carrying a white flag and also cried for help in Hebrew.
Family members of other hostages held in Gaza urged the Israeli government to pause the fighting and make a truce to secure their release.
Yotam Haim, Alon Shamriz and Samer El-Talalqa, all in their 20s, were shot during operations in Gaza City on Friday, prompting demonstrations in Israel.
Army spokesman Daniel Hagari said that during fighting in the Shejaiya district of Gaza City, troops “mistakenly identified three Israeli hostages as a threat and as a result, fired toward them and the hostages were killed”.
An army official said the hostages were all “without shirts” and had “a stick with a white cloth on it”, but a soldier felt threatened and opened fire.
“Two are killed immediately, one is injured and runs back into the building,” the official said, adding that the soldiers heard “a cry for help… in Hebrew”.
Despite a ceasefire order, “there’s another burst of fire towards the third figure and he also dies.”
United States urges Israel to narrow campaign
US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, called on Israel to scale down its Gaza campaign and transition to more narrowly targeted operations against Hamas leaders, said the US official.
This came after Netanyahu reiterated that “nothing could stop” his country from continuing the war until it achieves victory against the Palestinian militant group.
“We will continue until the end. There is no question at all. I say this in light of great pain, but also in light of international pressure. Nothing will stop us. We are going until the end, until victory, nothing less than that,” Netanyahu said in a video statement released by his office.
(With inputs from agencies)
Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments on the Israel-Palestine conflict after the Hamas attacks. However, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.
