Israel took over a thousand hostages in Gaza Strip
It became known how many hostages Israel took in the Gaza Strip (photo: Getty Images)
Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Aviv Kohavi, stated that his forces have taken over 1,000 people captive during the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, reports Reuters.
During an address to soldiers, the Chief of the General Staff mentioned that when combatants surrender and raise their hands, they are arrested rather than shot.
"We get a lot of intelligence from the captives we have, we already have over a thousand," Kohavi said.
It is noted that this statement was made against the backdrop of Israeli forces mistakenly identifying three Hamas hostages as a threat and shooting them during the fighting in Shuja'iyya in northern Gaza.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant called this incident horrific and took responsibility for it.
Israel-Hamas war
The Hamas militants invaded Israel in early October. Soon after, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched Operation Iron Swords.
On November 24, a temporary ceasefire between Tel Aviv and the militants began for the release of prisoners. However, on December 1, Israel claimed that hostilities were resumed due to Hamas violating the ceasefire terms.
On December 14, the White House expressed a desire for the war between Israel and Hamas to end as soon as possible. On the same day, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant stated that the war would last for several months.
