Israel-Gaza war live: Netanyahu says government ‘committed as ever’ to war in Gaza as UK and Germany call for ceasefire | Israel-Gaza war

UK foreign minister David Cameron and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock have published a joint article calling for a “sustainable” ceasefire, saying the goal must be peace lasting “generations”.

In a significant shift in tone by the UK government, the article reads: “Our goal cannot simply be an end to fighting today. It must be peace lasting for days, years, generations. We therefore support a ceasefire, but only if it is sustainable.

“We know many in the region and beyond have been calling for an immediate ceasefire. We recognise what motivates these heartfelt calls.

“It is an understandable reaction to such intense suffering, and we share the view that this conflict cannot drag on and on. That is why we supported the recent humanitarian pauses.”

The article was published in The Sunday Times and Welt am Sonntag in Germany. It further said: “Israel will not win this war if their operations destroy the prospect of peaceful coexistence with Palestinians. They have a right to eliminate the threat posed by Hamas. But too many civilians have been killed.”

Following Biden’s comments last week that Israel was losing international support because of its “indiscriminate bombing”, US officials have also told Israel that its window for conducting major combat operations in Gaza is fast closing.

You can read Peter Beaumont’s full story on this below:

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has vowed to keep up the military pressure on Hamas, despite anguished appeals from relatives of hostages held in Gaza for a return to negotiations after friendly fire killed three captives.

He told a press conference late Saturday that they were as “committed as ever” to war. He said they were determined to fight to the end and Gaza “will be demilitarised and under Israeli security control following the defeat of Hamas”.

The killing of the three hostages – who were kidnapped by Hamas on 7 October during its assault on southern Israel – has triggered widespread anger and incredulity in Israel amid a mounting sense of anxiety over the safety of the remaining hostages in Gaza.

According to reports of the IDF probe in the Israeli media, the three men Yotam Haim, Samer El-Talalka and Alon Shamriz – all in their 20s – had somehow escaped their captors and were approaching an IDF position in the Shejaiya area of Gaza City where there has been heavy fighting.

One of the men was carrying a stick with a white cloth tied to it and all had removed their shirts. Spotting the three, an Israeli soldier on a rooftop opened fire, shouting “Terrorists!”

You can read our full story here:

Welcome to our continuing live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war. My name is Christine Kearney and here’s a rundown of the latest news.

Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an address that the killings of three Israeli hostages in Gaza “broke the entire nation’s heart,” but he indicated no change in Israel’s intensive military campaign, after it emerged that the three Israeli hostages killed by the Israel Defence Forces were shirtless and carrying a white flag when they were shot, according to an initial military investigation.

“We are as committed as ever to continue until the end, until we dismantle Hamas, until we return all our hostages,” he told a press conference.

Meanwhile, Israel appeared to confirm that new negotiations were under way to recover hostages held by Hamas, after a source said Israel’s intelligence chief met the prime minister of Qatar, a country mediating in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, David Barnea, met Qatari prime minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani late on Friday, according to a source with knowledge of the matter, Reuters reports, as attention turned to a possible Gaza truce and a prisoner and hostage deal.

More on those stories soon. In other developments as it turns just past 8.30am in Gaza City and Tel Aviv:

• The UK and Germany have called for a “sustainable” ceasefire in the Gaza conflict, warning that “too many civilians have been killed” by Israel in spite of its right to eliminate the threat posed by Hamas. In a significant shift in tone, the UK’s foreign secretary, David Cameron, in a joint article with the German foreign affairs minister, Annalena Baerbock, wrote: “Our goal cannot simply be an end to fighting today. It must be peace lasting for days, years, generations. We therefore support a ceasefire, but only if it is sustainable.

• “There is a prolonged communications blackout across the Gaza strip that started on Thursday night and has continued over the past 48 hours,” the UNRWA said on Saturday. “Once again, Gazans find themselves completely isolated – cut off from their loved ones and from the rest of the world.”

• Al Jazeera has instructed its legal team to refer the case of what it called “the assassination” of its journalist Samer Abudaqa to the International Criminal Court. In a statement released on Saturday, the network said: “In addition to the assassination of Abudaqa by the Israeli occupation forces in the Gaza strip, the legal file will also encompass recurrent attacks on the network’s crews working and operating in the occupied territories through killing or intentionally physical assault constitutes a war crime.”

• Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue Israel’s war in Gaza while mourning the accidental killing of three Israeli hostages by Israeli forces. Speaking at a press conference on Saturday about Yotam Haim, Samar Al Talalka and Alon Shamriz – the three hostages who were killed by Israeli forces – Netanyahu said that their deaths “broke the hearts of the nation” but vowed to “continue until victory”.

• Hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Tel Aviv in anger and frustration over the Israeli government’s handling of the hostage crisis. Many chanted “Deal now!” in calls for a deal to be agreed upon as soon as possible to rescue the remaining hostages.

• A contractor working for the US Agency for International Development in Gaza was killed alongside his wife and two daughters in an Israeli airstrike in November, said his employer.“We are deeply saddened to confirm the tragic loss of our colleague, Hani Jnena (33), along with his family in Gaza, including his wife, Abeer (32), and their two young daughters, Mariam and Zayna, aged 4 and 2,” Reuters reports non-profit organization Global Communities as saying in a statement.

• Two Palestinian men were killed by Israeli forces in separate incidents in the West Bank on Saturday, Reuters reports the Palestinian health ministry as saying. A 20-year-old man who was identified as Aziz Abdulrahim Elkhlail by the Palestinian news agency WAFA was shot in the abdomen by Israeli forces in the town of Beit Ummar. He later died from his injuries. Another 25-year-old man was killed by Israeli forces in the city of Tulkarm, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

• Philippe Lazzarini, the chief of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, has condemned the “smear campaigns that target Palestinians and those who provide aid to them”, saying that he is “horrified”. Speaking to reporters at the Global Refugee Forum, Lazzarini said: “This war is also fought on TV screens and on social media. It’s also a media war. I am horrified at the smear campaigns that target Palestinians and those who provide aid to them.”