Day 70 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Dec. 15

An IDF statement noted that three hostages were mistakenly identified as a "threat" and killed in Gaza, and that an investigation had already begun.

Rina Bassist, Ezgi Akin, Beatrice Farhat, Elizabeth Hagedorn, Adam Lucente, Jack Dutton, Jared Szuba and Al-Monitor’s contributors on the ground in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel contributed to this blog.

Click here for our most recent updates.

Live updates (all times EDT):

Friday, Dec. 15, 2023

5:00 pm: Protests in Tel Aviv after 3 hostages mistakenly killed

Hundreds came out to protest in front of the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv Friday night after the IDF announced that it had mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages in Gaza.

3:55 pm: US national security adviser discusses Gaza aid, West Bank violence with Abbas

During a meeting today in Ramallah with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan “expressed his deepest sympathy for Palestinian civilians who have lost their lives in Gaza since Oct. 7” and discussed US efforts to boost humanitarian aid to Gaza “to promote stability in the West Bank,” according to a White House readout of the meeting.

2:22 pm: Al Jazeera says journalist Samer Abudaqa killed by Israeli missile

Al Jazeera announced Friday that its journalist Samer Abudaqa was killed in a missile attack while reporting from the Farhana school in Khan Younis.

Abudaqa was working alongside Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief Wael al-Dahdouh, who was injured in the attack. Al Jazeera said that Abudaqa was trapped in the school by nearby intensive shelling after being severely injured.

Dahdouh was able to reach a nearby hospital and was treated for minor wounds.

1:20 pm: UN aid chief welcomes Kerem Shalom border crossing opening

UN aid chief Martin Griffiths welcomed Israel’s announcement Friday that it would be opening the Kerem Shalom border crossing for aid deliveries but said, “What the people in Gaza really need most is an end to this war.”

1:17 pm: IDF accidentally kills 3 hostages in Gaza

Israeli troops accidentally shot and killed three Israeli hostages that had either tried to escape Hamas or were abandoned by their captors. The shooting took place in the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City, stated IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari, who said that the incident is being investigated and that the military will act in complete transparency to reveal exactly what happened.

12:45 pm: US chases breakthrough in Gaza hostage impasse

A senior Hamas official claimed the group has been holding four female soldiers since the truce collapsed, when Biden administration says the militants recategorized civilian women set for release as soldiers.

Meanwhile, the United States is pursuing a “number of initiatives” to get the hostage talks between Israel and Hamas back on track two weeks after the temporary cease-fire collapsed, a senior Biden administration official said. Elizabeth Hagedorn reports.

11:30 am: Netanyahu, Biden at loggerheads over war, Gaza’s future

Long-simmering tensions between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden came to a head this week as each outlined his vision for the post-Hamas future of the Gaza Strip.

While the Americans pressure Netanyahu to lean on the Palestinian Authority, the Israeli leader continues to scapegoat Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Ben Caspit reports.

10:16 am: Rocket sirens sound in Jerusalem

Sirens warned residents of Jerusalem and its environs over rocket fire from the Gaza Strip after a month and a half of quiet. Israeli authorities reported that one rocket fell in the nearby town of Beit Shemesh. No injuries were reported.

9:13 am: Israeli cabinet approves entry of humanitarian aid via Kerem Shalom crossing

The Israeli cabinet agreed Friday to allow trucks carrying humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom crossing point. Last week, the cabinet approved security checks for the trucks at Kerem Shalom in order to accelerate the entry of humanitarian aid to the enclave, but the measure did not accelerate the process much, as the verified-trucks still needed to go back to Rafah in order to enter Gaza. The Friday statement from the prime minister’s office also read that the Biden administration is committed to financing efforts to increase the Rafah crossing’s capacity to process humanitarian aid.

8:00 am: Palestinian journalists face bodily harm, death while covering war

Videos have begun circulating online of Israeli soldiers beating Palestinian journalist Mustafa Haruf while he worked for the Turkish news agency Anadolu in the West Bank. Germany’s ambassador to Israel said the video was “appalling and very worrying police behavior” in a post on X, asking, “In what way can it possibly serve the security of the citizens of Israel?”

Al Jazeera journalists Wael Dahdouh and cameraman Samer AbuDakka were injured while covering an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis in Gaza Strip. Dahdouh’s wife, son, daughter and grandson were killed last month, news that Dahdouh delivered live on the network.

This is appalling and very worrying police behaviour - in what way can it possibly serve the security of the citizens of Israel? https://t.co/FjEt6zAXyL

— Steffen Seibert (@GerAmbTLV) December 15, 2023

8:50 am: Abbas tells Biden envoy Israel’s attacks must stop

In his meeting with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan in Ramallah, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that Washington should “intervene to force Israel to stop its aggression against our people in the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem.”

6:10 am: Sullivan says Israeli control of Gaza does not 'make sense'

Speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv before his trip to the West Bank, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said that Israel occupying Gaza after the war ends would not “make sense” nor be “right.”

He stressed that Israel did not have a “long-term plan to occupy Gaza” and said the United States and Israel were discussing the timeline and details of a post-war transition to a new administration in the enclave.

The comments come amid growing divisions between the United States and Israel on the post-war future of the Gaza Strip. Washington has maintained that the future of Gaza should be led by Palestinians, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has maintained his stance that the Palestinian Authority should not take control.

5:12 am: Palestinian Authority must be 'revamped and revitalized,' Biden envoy says

Speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv before heading to the West Bank, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the Palestinian Authority needs to be “updated.”

“We do believe that the Palestinian Authority needs to be revamped and revitalized, needs to be updated in terms of its method of governance, its representation of the Palestinian people,” Sullivan said. “And it will be up to those leaders of the Palestinian Authority to work through the types of steps that they need to take to reform and update the authority for the situation we face today.”

3:00 am: Israeli military retrieves body of two soldiers kidnapped by Hamas

Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari announced that the bodies of Israeli soldiers Nick Baizer and Ron Sherman had been recovered in Gaza and transported to Israel. The two were kidnapped from an Israel Defense Forces base near the border with Gaza on Oct. 7. Hagari had earlier announced that Israeli forces had recovered the body of  Israeli-French hostage Elia Toledano.

2:00 am: Sullivan meets in Israel with Mossad chief 

US national security advisor Jake Sullivan met Thursday evening with Mossad chief David Barnea in Tel Aviv, said the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The two discussed efforts for the return of hostages held in Gaza, increased bilateral cooperation and regional challenges posed by Iran's nuclear program, expansionism and support of terrorism. Before visiting Barnea, Sullivan met with Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister Benny Gantz, and participated in a meeting of the Israeli war cabinet. Sullivan is set to meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog Friday before departing.

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