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Three Israeli police officers have been shot dead in a car as families march coffins through Israel following the deaths of six hostages in Gaza.
Palestinian militants killed three Israeli police officers on Sunday when they opened fire on a vehicle in the occupied West Bank, where Israel has carried out large-scale raids in recent days.
It came after the families of the captives blamed Benjamin Netanyahu after the Israeli military said early on Sunday that the corpses were recovered from a tunnel beneath the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where they were apparently killed not long before the troops reached them.
The bodies of Carmel Gat, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Ori Danino have been returned to Israel, military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said. All six were captured by Hamas during the 7 October attack that ignited the Gaza war.
The discovery sparked calls for mass protests by families of the captives who said their loved ones could have been returned alive in a ceasefire deal.
Calling on the Israeli prime minister to take responsibility and explain what was holding up an agreement, The Hostage Families Forum said: “The delay in signing the deal has led to their deaths and those of many other hostages.”
