Israeli Hostage Inbar Hayman Confirmed Dead in Hamas Captivity, Israel Says

Accident – death – Obituary News : NEW YORK) — The temporary cease-fire between Hamas and Israel ended on Dec. 1, and Israel has resumed its bombardment of Gaza. The end of the cease-fire came after Hamas freed over 100 of the more than 200 people its militants took hostage during the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel. In exchange, Israel released more than 200 Palestinians from Israeli prisons. Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Dec 16, 12:26 PM EST
Hostage captured at music festival confirmed dead, Israel says
Inbar Hayman, an Israeli hostage who was captured at the Re’im music festival, was killed in Hamas captivity, Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy said Saturday.
Hayman, 27, ran from the festival with two friends but was caught by “terrorists riding motorcycles,” the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum said in a statement Saturday.

Dec 16, 9:09 AM EST
IDF says soldier who shot hostages felt ‘threatened’ before they opened fire
The Israel Defense Forces released information regarding its preliminary investigation into the killing of hostages, saying that the incident took place in an area of “very intense fighting.”
The three hostages came out of a building — a few meters from the troops — without shirts, carrying a stick with white cloth. A soldier saw them as a threat and opened fire, killing two hostages instantly, according to an IDF spokesperson.
The third was injured and ran back into the building where all three emerged from and someone cried “help” in Hebrew. At this point, the battalion commander ordered his troops to stop firing. But, despite the order, another burst was fired, killing the third hostage, according to an IDF spokesperson.
The three men killed have been identified as 28-year old Yotam Haim; 26-year old Alon Shamriz; and 22-year old Samer Talalka.
The IDF said the three hostages were ‘mistakenly identified’ as a threat. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident an “unbearable tragedy.”

Dec 15, 6:01 PM EST
IDF mistakenly killed 3 Israeli hostages during combat in Gaza
Israeli forces mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages during combat in Shejaiya, Gaza, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said during a press briefing Friday.
The hostages were identified as: Yotam Haim, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza; Samer Talalka, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Am; and Alon Shamriz, who was taken from Kibbutz Kfar Aza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it “an unbearable tragedy.”
“The entire State of Israel will mourn this evening. My heart goes out to the grieving families in their difficult time,” he said.
The IDF said it’s reviewing the incident. The IDF said “immediate lessons from the event have been learned, which have been passed on to all IDF troops in the field.”
Haim, 28, is survived by his parents, brother and sister, the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum said. He was a gifted musician, an animal lover and loved to cook Italian food, the forum said.
Shamriz, 26, lived in the Young Generation neighborhood of Kibbutz Kfar Aza, according to the forum.
Shamriz was slated to study computer engineering at Sapir College, the forum said.
“Alon’s family and friends described him as a lover of life and a dedicated basketball fan. He played on the Sha’ar Hanegev basketball team,” the forum said in a statement.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby called the incident “heartbreaking” and a “tragic mistake,” adding it is not particularly a reflection of Israeli’s ability to be precise.

Dec 15, 4:07 PM EST
Kirby: ‘Constructive’ conversations with Israelis about military transition
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said conversations with the Israelis about transitioning to lower intensity military operations have been “constructive.”
“There’s a general agreement that a transition to lower intensity operations obviously is going to be an important next step here,” Kirby said. “The idea of transitioning into different phases is certainly a common practice among militaries as they conduct operations of this kind.”

Dec 15, 2:33 PM EST
Al Jazeera cameraman killed in Gaza
Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa died in Gaza after he was struck and injured during combat in the region, ABC News has confirmed. He died at the scene before an ambulance could reach him.
Al Jazeera said its correspondent, Wael al-Dahdouh, was injured from shrapnel in the same incident.
Sixty-five journalists have been killed since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Dec 15, 1:19 PM EST
Lufthansa to resume flights to Israel
Lufthansa plans to resume flights to Tel Aviv in the new year, the airline confirmed Friday.
Lufthansa said it will offer four weekly flights from Frankfurt and three weekly flights from Munich starting Jan. 8.
Austrian Airlines and SWISS — subsidiaries of Lufthansa — will also resume some flights.
Flights to Beirut, which had also been suspended, resumed service on Friday, the airline said.

Dec 15, 12:01 PM EST
Bodies of 3 hostages recovered in Gaza, returned to Israel
The bodies of three hostages — two Israeli soldiers and one civilian kidnapped from the Supernova music festival — have been recovered in Gaza and returned to Israel, the Israel Defense Forces said.
The civilian was identified as 28-year-old Ella Toledano and the soldiers were identified as Cpl. Nik Beizer and Sgt. Ron Sherman, the IDF said.

Dec 15, 11:40 AM EST
IDF strikes Hamas infrastructure on Gaza-Egypt border
The Israeli Air Force “targeted and destroyed” Hamas military sites, weapons storage facilities and command and control centers along the Gaza-Egypt border, the Israel Defense Forces said.
“The sites that were struck in the Rafah area, where Hamas terrorists were operating, facilitated the smuggling efforts led by the Hamas terrorist organization, including the smuggling of weapons that endanger Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers operating in the Gaza Strip,” the IDF said.

Dec 15, 10:20 AM EST
Sullivan: Israel allowing direct delivery of Gaza aid via Kerem Shalom crossing is a ‘significant step’
The Kerem Shalom crossing at the Israel-Gaza-Egypt border opened for inspections of humanitarian aid on Tuesday, and Israel is now taking the “significant step” to allow the direct delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing, said national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
Sullivan said he learned of Israel’s decision just before he departed Israel on Friday.
“President [Joe] Biden raised this issue in recent phone calls with [Israeli] Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu, and it was an important topic of discussion during my visit to Israel over the past two days,” Sullivan said in a statement Friday.
“The United States remains committed to expanding and sustaining the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza. We will continue to work closely with Egypt and other partners on the delivery and distribution of humanitarian assistance through Rafah crossing, and we hope that this new opening will ease congestion and help facilitate the delivery of life-saving assistance to those who need it urgently in Gaza,” Sullivan added.

Dec 15, 9:29 AM EST
Sullivan: IDF’s long-term goal isn’t to occupy Gaza, but fight will take months
National security adviser Jake Sullivan said at a press conference in Tel Aviv on Friday that it doesn’t make sense for Israel to occupy Gaza and that Israel has indicated it does not have long term plans to do so.
Sullivan said the fight against Hamas could take months, but he didn’t offer up any details about if the war’s intensity will shift gears.
As for the war’s impact on civilians in Gaza, Sullivan said, “The terrorists chose to embed themselves among civilians — and that creates an incredible burden on the IDF.”
“That burden does not lessen the IDF’s responsibility to weigh the distinguishes between terrorist targets and innocent people and to take every precaution to protect civilians and loss of life,” he continued. “It also doesn’t lessen the burden, by the way, to ensure that humanitarian assistance flows in sufficient quantities that the Palestinian people have access to the food, water, medicine, sanitation, that they don’t just need, that they deserve, as a basic matter of dignity, of human beings.”
“Israel has the right to go after Hamas in these difficult circumstances, and also has a responsibility to do so in a way that comports with our values, with international humanitarian law, and with the strategic necessity to see the fundamental difference between innocent Palestinian people and these evil terrorists of Hamas,” he said.

Dec 14, 5:23 PM EST
Biden speaks with Turkish president about Israel-Hamas conflict
President Joe Biden spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyıp Erdoğan Thursday on a wide variety of topics including the latest developments in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

As the conflict between Hamas and Israel continues, with the temporary cease-fire ending and Israel resuming its bombardment of Gaza, the news is developing rapidly. Here are the latest updates:

– Dec 16, 12:26 PM EST: Inbar Hayman, an Israeli hostage who was captured at the Re’im music festival, was killed in Hamas captivity, according to Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy. Hayman, 27, was caught by “terrorists riding motorcycles” after running from the festival with two friends.
– Dec 16, 9:09 AM EST: The Israel Defense Forces released information regarding its preliminary investigation into the killing of hostages. The incident took place in an area of “very intense fighting,” and the three hostages were mistaken as a threat by a soldier who opened fire. Two hostages were killed instantly, and the third was injured and later killed despite orders to stop firing.
– Dec 15, 6:01 PM EST: Israeli forces mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages during combat in Shejaiya, Gaza. The hostages were identified as Yotam Haim, Samer Talalka, and Alon Shamriz. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it “an unbearable tragedy.”
– Dec 15, 2:33 PM EST: Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa died in Gaza after being struck and injured during combat. Sixty-five journalists have been killed since the start of.