Three Israeli hostages mistakenly shot were waving white flag, Israel remains 'committed as ever'

The three Israeli hostages who were mistakenly shot by Israeli troops in Gaza had been waving a white flag when they were killed, military officials acknowledged on Saturday. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a nationwide address, stating that the killings “broke my heart, broke the entire nation’s heart,” according to The Associated Press.

But he made it clear that this would not result in a change to the intensity of Israel’s military campaign. “We are as committed as ever to continue until the end, until we dismantle Hamas, until we return all our hostages,” Netanyahu said.

The tragic event is likely to increase the already growing pressure on Israel to pull back on the level of intensity that it is pursuing for both the return of the hostages and the eradication of Hamas.

Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official, said there will be no further release of hostages until the war ends and Israel accepts the terrorist group’s conditions for an exchange. Netanyahu was clear that Israel would never agree to such demands.

Israel says there are 129 remaining hostages, and there are estimated to be 7,000 Palestinians accused or convicted of terrorist acts or other security violations, including hundreds who have been arrested since the war began when Hamas brutally invaded Israel, killing at least 1,200 Israelis and taking hundreds more hostage.

Two days before the tragedy of the mistaken killing of the three hostages, “a building with ‘Three hostages,’ ‘SOS,’ and ‘Save us’ spraypainted in red was discovered a few hundred meters from where it occurred,” according to Israel Hayom. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) is investigating any possible connection between the two incidents. The IDF has “already encountered such writings on buildings that turned out to be booby-trapped,” according to the outlet.

"It is a terrible tragedy,” according to the Chief of Staff, who arrived shortly after the incident at the Southern Command. “We could have been inches away from rescuing three of our people who, thanks to the maneuvers of their captors, were killed or fled. The scenario we encountered is extremely complex, on the verge of impossible. The feelings of the soldiers are awful. They did their jobs faithfully and risked their lives."