Israelis enraged after army announces the killing of 3 hostages 'by mistake'

Large crowds gathered in Tel Aviv late Friday after the Israeli army announced that it had mistakenly killed three hostages in Gaza.

The Israeli army announced on Friday that it "accidentally" killed three hostages held by Hamas in Gaza during an incident "under review."

The protest reflects a state of anger in Israel over the continued detention of dozens of hostages in the stricken Strip, amid pressure on the government to take the initiative to secure their release.

The demonstrators blocked traffic at the Kaplan Junction while they were walking towards the military headquarters of the Israeli army in Kirya, where they called for a new agreement to return the remaining hostages who were kidnapped during the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7.

Chants were heard among the crowd: "Their time is running out," "Bring them now," and "There will be no victory until the last hostage is released."

Anger has escalated among the families of the hostages in recent days after reports that the government is delaying studying the proposal for a new hostage deal with Hamas because it believes that only the continued operations of the Israeli army in Gaza will force the movement to return to the table with an offer that Israel can accept.

The army stated that the hostages were killed during fighting with militants in Gaza and expressed its condolences to their families, saying there would be "full transparency" In investigating the accident.

It is believed that 132 hostages are still in Gaza, and not all of them are alive.

Under a week-long truce, Hamas and other factions released 105 hostages after releasing 4, and the Israeli army announced the rescue of a hostage.

The bodies of 8 hostages were recovered, and the Israeli army confirmed the killing of 20 of those still being held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by forces operating in Gaza.

Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prevented Mossad chief David Barnea from travelling to Qatar earlier this week.

However, it was reported that Netanyahu changed his mind and agreed to send Barnia to meet with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Europe to discuss resuming negotiations towards another hostage deal.

The report quoted an Israeli source as saying that Israel is ready to discuss an agreement to release the remaining hostages.