JERUSALEM/ISTANBUL

A former Israeli military commander said Tuesday that the majority of hostages were killed in army fire in the northern Gaza Strip.

“Israeli fire killed most of the hostages (captives) in Jabalia due to intelligence gaps,” Nitzan Alon, a former Israeli negotiator, told the daily Yedioth Ahronoth.

Alon said many of the hostages, who arrived in Gaza alive, died in Israeli strikes targeting buildings where they had been held.

He said that three Israeli hostages were killed in an Israeli attack in December 2023 due to “incorrect assumptions on the ground,” without further details.

“The fear caused by our airstrikes was repeatedly mentioned in the hostages’ testimonies,” he added.

Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades, repeatedly broadcast video clips of Israeli captives in which they called on Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to stop the strikes that endangered their lives, but Tel Aviv ignored those appeals and continued the war for two years.

Regarding the protests conducted by families of Israeli hostages, Alon said that “they had much less impact on the negotiations than many claimed.”

A ceasefire agreement took effect in Gaza on Oct. 10 under US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan, halting two years of Israeli attacks that have killed more than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured nearly 171,000 others since October 2023.

Phase one of the deal includes 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.

Israel ties the start of negotiations for launching the second phase of the ceasefire agreement to receiving the bodies of all its captives. It claims that the remains of one Israeli captive are still in Gaza, while Hamas says it has handed over all 20 Israeli hostages who were alive and the remains of all 28 who were killed.