The Israeli military mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages Friday during its ground operation in the Gaza Strip, military officials said. The army’s chief spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said it was not clear if they had escaped their captors or been abandoned, and the army was investigating.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian president met with United States officials to discuss postwar arrangements for Gaza that could include reactivating Palestinian security forces driven out by Hamas in its 2007 takeover of the territory.
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Any role for Palestinian security forces in Gaza is bound to elicit strong opposition from Israel, which seeks to maintain an open-ended security presence there. The Palestinian Authority, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank but is deeply unpopular with Palestinians.
More than 18,700 Palestinians have been killed since Israel declared war on Hamas, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths. Israel says 116 of its soldiers have died in its ground offensive after Hamas raided southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and taking about 240 hostages.
Currently:
— An Israeli strike on a school kills an Al Jazeera camera operator in southern Gaza, the network says.
— The Israeli military opens an investigation after videos show Israeli forces killing two Palestinians at close range.
— The Pentagon has ordered a U.S. aircraft carrier to remain in the Mediterranean near Israel.
— Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
Here’s what’s happening in the war:
ISRAELI DRONE STRIKE ON GAZA SCHOOL KILLS AL JAZEERA JOURNALIST, INJURES ANOTHER
An Israeli strike killed a Palestinian camera operator for the TV network Al Jazeera and wounded its chief Gaza correspondent Friday as they reported at a school in the south of the besieged territory, the network said.
Camera operator Samer Abu Daqqa and correspondent Wael Dahdouh had gone to the school in the southern city of Khan Younis after it was hit by a strike earlier in the day. While they were there, an Israeli drone hit the school with a second strike, the network said.
Dahdouh was heavily wounded in his arm and shoulder, while Abu Daqqa was found dead Friday evening after an ambulance that tried to reach the school to evacuate him had to turn back because roads were blocked by the rubble of destroyed houses, the network said in a statement.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Abu Daqqa is the 64th journalist to be killed since the conflict erupted between Hamas and Israel on Oct. 7. That number includes 57 Palestinians, four Israelis and three Lebanese journalists.
The 45-year-old Abu Daqqa, a Khan Younis native, joined Al Jazeera in June 2004, working as both a cameraman and an editor. He leaves behind three sons and a daughter.
The Israeli army did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment about Abu Daqqa’s death.
BIDEN BRIEFED ON 3 HOSTAGES WHO WERE MISTAKENLY KILLED BY ISRAEL MILITARY IN GAZA
President Joe Biden was briefed on Friday by his national security team about Israeli forces mistakenly killing three hostages in Gaza, according to White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.
“It’s heartbreaking, it’s tragic,” Kirby said.
Kirby said the United States expected Israel would conduct an investigation to better understand the circumstances that lead to Israeli troops mistakenly killing the captives. He added that at the moment too little was known about the incident to “make some sort of broad judgment about the specific circumstances here.”
UNITED NATIONS SAYS REOPENING BORDER CROSSING TO GAZA WILL INCREASE FLOW OF HUMANITARIAN AID
UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations is welcoming Israel’s announcement that the border crossing at Kerem Shalom will be opened for the direct delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, saying the sooner the better.
U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters Friday that “the fast implementation of this agreement will increase the flow of aid” and “a humanitarian cease-fire will increase the distribution of that aid across Gaza even more.”
Israel closed the crossing, the main entry point for Gaza-bound cargo, immediately after the surprise Oct. 7 Hamas attacks inside the country from Gaza.
U.N. humanitarian officials reported Friday that the humanitarian suffering of Palestinians in Gaza has been compounded by flooding after heavy rains in the past few days in the territory, Dujarric said.
Kerem Shalom opened Tuesday as a second inspection point for screening aid for trucks from the U.N. and international aid organizations, according to Dujarric, but the trucks had to drive to the Rafah crossing from Egypt to enter Gaza.
Israel’s announcement late Friday will allow direct entry of aid to Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing, which the U.N. has been urging because of the humanitarian crisis and shortage of food, water, medicine and other key supplies.
3 ISRAELI HOSTAGES MISTAKENLY KILLED DURING GROUND OPERATION, ISRAEL MILITARY SAYS
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it has mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages during its ground operation in the Gaza Strip.
The army’s chief spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, says Israeli troops found the hostages on Friday and erroneously identified them as a threat. He said it was not clear if they had escaped their captors or been abandoned.
The incident occurred in the Gaza City area of Shijaiyah, where troops have engaged in fierce battles against Hamas militants in recent days.
He said the army expressed “deep sorrow” and was investigating.
LUFTHANSA SAYS FLIGHTS TO TEL AVIV WILL RESUME IN THE NEW YEAR
BERLIN –- German airline Lufthansa says that it and its subsidiaries plan to resume flights to Tel Aviv in the new year.
The company said Friday that flights will resume on Jan. 8. It says Lufthansa will initially operate four flights per week from Frankfurt and three from Munich, Austrian Airlines will run eight flights per week and Swiss will operate five. That’s about 30% of the regular flight schedule.
Lufthansa and its subsidiaries suspended regular flights to Tel Aviv on Oct. 9.
Flights to the Lebanese capital, Beirut, also have been suspended, but were resumed on Friday by Lufthansa, Swiss and Eurowings.
ROCKETS AIMED AT CENTRAL ISRAEL, RESCUE SERVICE SAYS; SIRENS BLARE IN JERUSALEM
JERUSALEM — A rare rocket barrage directed at central Israel sent air raid sirens blaring across Jerusalem.
Israel’s rescue service said it had received reports of a hit Friday, but said there were no immediate casualties.
It was not immediately clear how many rockets had been fired, but an Associated Press reporter heard numerous launches of Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system.
Israeli media reported that it was the first time in a month and a half that sirens rang in Jerusalem. Since the war began on Oct. 7, rocket barrages have been far more common in the coastal city of Tel Aviv and areas bordering the Gaza Strip.
EUROPEAN NATIONS, AUSTRALIA AND CANADA URGED ISRAEL TO STOP WEST BANK VIOLENCE BY SETTLERS
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Twelve European nations joined by Australia, Canada and the European Union have called on Israel “to take immediate and concrete steps to tackle record high settler violence in the occupied West Bank.”
In a joint statement released Friday by the Swedish government, the countries expressed “their grave concern about the record number of attacks by extremist settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank.”
They said “the rise in extremist settler violence committed against Palestinians is unacceptable” and that “Israel, as the occupying power, must protect the Palestinian civilian population in the West Bank.”
The joint statement said that “those responsible for the violence must be brought to justice” and that attacks on Palestinians undermines “security in the West Bank and the region and threatens prospects for a lasting peace.”
The European countries are Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
HAGUE COURT REJECTS BID TO BAN TRANSFER TO ISRAEL OF F-35 FIGHTER JET PARTS FROM DUTCH WAREHOUSE
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — A Dutch court rejected a request Friday by a group of human rights and humanitarian organizations to order a halt to the transfer to Israel of parts for F-35 fighter jets.
The organizations went to court Dec. 4 arguing that delivery of parts for F-35 jets makes the Netherlands complicit in possible war crimes being committed by Israel in its war with Hamas. The parts are stored in a warehouse in the Dutch town of Woensdrecht.
In a written statement, the court said that the judge who heard the civil case concluded that the Dutch government “weighed the relevant interests” before agreeing to the delivery of parts. It was not immediately clear if the groups that brought the civil case would appeal.
Government lawyer Reimer Veldhuis told the judge hearing the civil case that a ban on transfers from the Netherlands would effectively be meaningless as “the United States would deliver these parts to Israel from another place.”
A LIBERIAN-FLAGGED CARGO SHIP IS HIT BY A PROJECTILE FROM REBEL-CONTROLLED YEMEN
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A Liberian-flagged cargo ship caught fire Friday in the Red Sea after being hit by a projectile launched from rebel-controlled Yemen, a U.S. defense official and a private intelligence firm said.
The attack on the Al Jasrah further escalates a campaign by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, who have claimed responsibility for a series of missile assaults in recent days in the Red Sea and its strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The attacks come as a response to the Israel-Hamas war and the pounding air-and-ground offensive targeting the Gaza Strip, though linking the ships targeted in the rebel assaults has grown more tenuous — or nonexistent — as the attacks continue.
The U.S. official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters. The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for the assault.
The Al Jasrah is operated by German-based shipper Hapag Lloyd, which declined to immediately comment about the attack. It wasn’t yet clear if any of the crew on board the vessel had been hurt in the attack, which may have come from either a drone or a missile.
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Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell contributed.
A FRENCH ISRAELI HOSTAGE'S BODY IS FOUND IN GAZA, FRANCE SAYS
PARIS — France’s foreign minister says the body of a French-Israeli citizen taken hostage by Hamas militants has been found in Gaza.
The minister, Catherine Colonna, posted on social media her "immense sadness” at the death of Elia Toledano.
She said the Israeli military announced that his body had been found. He was reported to have been taken hostage at a music festival attacked by militants during Hamas' Oct. 7 assault on Israel.