Israel-Gaza live updates: Israel 'deepening the war' in Gaza: Netanyahu

GoPro footage from an Israel Defense Forces canine unit dog shows the three Israeli hostages five days before they were mistakenly killed by IDF forces, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a press briefing Wednesday.

"Five days before the abductees were killed by the IDF, amid the encounter of the Golani patrol, the dog came forward to clean the area," Hagari said. "Terrorists shot the dog. Analyzing the voices in the video, we could recognize the abductees."

"All three of them were identified by voice recognition,” Hagari said, adding that they were one kilometer from where they were mistakenly killed days later.

Hagari said the three Israeli hostages were able to escape because the Hamas terrorists holding them captive were killed.

“From there they went through a heroic journey of escape until that terrible tragedy happened," Hagari said.

The IDF said on Friday its forces mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages who were carrying a stick with a white cloth in an area of "very intense fighting" in Gaza. The IDF said the three hostages were "mistakenly identified" as a threat.

The three men were identified as 28-year-old Yotam Haim; 26-year-old Alon Shamriz; and 22-year-old Samer Talalka.

Israeli troops have secured control over Hamas' "Elite Quarter" in the center of Gaza City, including the area of the “Palestine Square,” the Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday.

"The complex includes a large network of tunnels that connects terrorist hideouts, bureaus, and residential apartments belonging to Hamas’ senior leadership,” the IDF said. “This complex, both above and below ground, was a center of power for Hamas’ military and political wings.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. is heading into next year focused on ensuring that Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel cannot happen again, as well as bringing the conflict in Gaza to an end as quickly as possible.

“We're more determined than ever to ensure that out of this horrific tragedy comes a moment of possibility for Israelis, for Palestinians, for the region, to live in lasting peace and lasting security,” Blinken said at his end-of-year news conference Wednesday.

Blinken spoke about the need to downshift the scale of warfare, but he didn’t set a firm timeline.

“It’s clear that the conflict will move and needs to move to a lower intensity phase. And we expect to see, and want to see, a shift to more targeted operations with a smaller number of forces that's really focused in on dealing with the leadership of Hamas, the tunnel network and a few other critical things,” Blinken said. “As that happens, I think you'll see as well, the harm done to civilians also decrease significantly.”

Blinken also addressed intense negotiations over an Arab-sponsored United Nations Security Council resolution to ramp up humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza and impose a halt in the fighting. That resolution is expected to come to a vote soon and it’s possible that the U.S. could veto it.

The secretary said the U.S. wanted to make sure the measure would actually advance the effort to move aid into Gaza and “doesn't do anything that could actually hurt the delivery of humanitarian assistance -- make it more complicated.”

He added that the U.S. was engaged “in good faith with other countries.”

“We've been working this intensely. I've been on the phones about this for the last the last couple of days,” Blinken said. “So, I hope we can get to a good place.”

-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford

The death toll in Gaza since the start of the Israel-Hamas war has now surpassed 20,000, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.

President Joe Biden called the death toll "tragic."