The Israel Defence Forces announced today that three Israeli hostages were killed by mistake in northern Gaza. "The IDF expresses deep sorrow for the incident and shares in the grief of the families," said a statement from the military. "The IDF will continue to act in all efforts to return the abductees home."
During his visit to Israel today, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan stated that the US desired to see results in terms of avoiding civilian casualties in Gaza. He was speaking in Israel, where he had met with officials amid rising tensions between the two countries.
Following Sullivan's remarks, Israel announced the opening of its border crossing at Kerem Shalom for the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza. It is the first time since the outbreak of hostilities that humanitarian assistance has been provided.
Earlier, two US officials stated that the Biden administration has informed the Israeli government that it wishes to see an end to the large-scale ground campaign in Gaza and a shift to a more targeted phase of the Israeli-Hamas conflict.
According to the territory's health officials, over 18,700 Palestinians have been killed, with 70% of them being women and children. The vast majority of its 2.2 million people are displaced, and an estimated half are facing starvation as a humanitarian crisis unfolds.
According to Israeli military officials, 116 soldiers were killed during the country's ground invasion of Gaza, which occurred after Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and kidnapped about 240 hostages on October 7.
Richard Engel, Raf Sanchez, Hala Gorani, Hallie Jackson, and Chantal Dalton of NBC News
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