JERUSALEM / ISTANBUL

An Israeli hostage was killed in a failed rescue attempt by the army in southern Gaza caused by an intelligence error, local media reported on Friday.

The daily Yedioth Ahronoth said a special forces team from the elite Sayeret Matkal unit arrived at a building in Khan Younis city where Sahar Baruch was believed to be held and blew up the entrance.

Hamas fighters, however, responded by hurling grenades, injuring several Israeli soldiers and halting their advance. Baruch was killed in the ensuing firefight and Hamas fighter retreated with his body - an indication that he was killed by Israeli fire, the paper said.

The outlet said the failed operation was one of several attempts to rescue the captives, some of which had failed and ended in the death of some hostages.

Hamas has repeatedly said that it has made every effort to protect the lives of Israeli captives, warning that Israel’s intense and indiscriminate bombardment in Gaza endangers them.

“There was heavy pressure, mainly from the political echelon, to act fast and with maximum force, especially in the early months of the war,” an unnamed Israeli official told the paper.

Some senior officers, however, like Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon, who heads a special command center, sometimes “urged patience to reduce the risks to the hostages.”

Hamas released 20 living Israeli hostages and handed over the remains of 10 more captives in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners under the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire agreement.

The deal was reached between Israel and Hamas last week, based on a plan presented by US President Donald Trump. Phase one included the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The plan also envisages the rebuilding of Gaza and the establishment of a new governing mechanism without Hamas.

Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed nearly 68,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children, and rendered it largely uninhabitable.