Saturday, December 16, 2023. Annette’s News Roundup.
I think the Roundup makes people feel not so alone.
To read an article excerpted in this Roundup, click on its blue title. Each “blue” article is hyperlinked so you can read the whole article.
Please feel free to share.
Invite at least one other person to subscribe today! https://buttondown.email/AnnettesNewsRoundup
___________________________
War is hell.
After the barbaric attack by Hamas on Israel, replete with rapes, beheadings, and burnings - plus Hamas leaders declaring that they want to do it again, and again, and again..
After the pain of violent retribution and ongoing destruction and loss of property and lives in Israel and in Gaza ..
Who would guess we could still be shocked by the repercussions of war.
War is hell.
Yotam Haim.
Samer Talalka.
Alon Lulu Shamriz.
The three hostages had been abducted from kibbutzes on Oct. 7.
Israeli forces mistakenly identified three Israeli hostages as a threat during a battle in Shejaiye, a Hamas stronghold in northern Gaza, the military said.
Destroyed buildings in Rafah, at Gaza’s southern edge.
Israeli troops mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages during combat with Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Friday, the Israeli military said.
The incident took place in Shejaiye, one of the densely populated communities in northern Gaza that the Israeli military has identified as a Hamas stronghold.
Israeli forces “mistakenly identified three Israeli hostages as a threat,” the military said in a statement. “As a result, the troops fired toward them and they were killed. During searches and checks in the area in which the incident occurred, a suspicion arose over the identities of the deceased. Their bodies were transferred to Israeli territory for examination, after which it was confirmed that they were three Israeli hostages.”
The military identified two of the hostages, who were kidnapped during the Hamas-led assault on Israel on Oct. 7, as Yotam Haim, who was taken from Kibbutz Kfar Aza; and Samer Talalka, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Am. A third hostage, whose name the Israeli military initially did not release at the request of his family, was later identified as Alon Shamriz. He was abducted from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, according to a statement from the Israeli military that expressed its “deep sorrow for the incident.”
The military said it was investigating the incident.
The office of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, released a statement calling the killings “an unbearable tragedy” and expressing empathy for the hostages’ families along with support for Israeli soldiers “who are devoted to the sacred mission of returning our hostages, even at the cost of their lives.”
“Even on this difficult evening,” the statement said, “we will bind up our wounds, learn the lessons and continue with a supreme effort to return all our hostages home safely.”
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents those kidnapped on Oct. 7 and their relatives, issued a statement on Friday evening, saying it shared in the “profound grief” of the Talalka and Haim families.
On Oct. 7, Mr. Talalka was working at a chicken hatchery near Kibbutz Nir Am when he was abducted. He had spoken with his sister on the phone, telling her he was injured by terrorist gunfire before the call was disconnected, according to the group’s spokeswoman, Liat Bell Sommer. He was “an avid motorcyclist who loved to ride around the countryside,” she said.
Mr. Talalka was from Hura, a Bedouin Arab town in southern Israel. He was one of several Bedouin hostages, a member of a minority community in Israel. At least 17 people who were killed in the attacks on Oct. 7 were Bedouins.
Mr. Haim was a drummer slated to perform at a “metal music festival” in Tel Aviv on Oct. 7, Ms. Sommer said.
— Aaron Boxerman and Johnatan Reiss
New York Times.
___________________________
It is Eve’s birthday weekend, so I will see you on Monday. Have a good weekend and dream of peace.
___________________________