Israel Forces Mistook 3 Hostages As Hamas Terrorists, Shot Them Dead

What happened?

The Israeli military deeply regrets the tragic incident in Shejaya, Gaza, where three Israeli hostages—Yotam Haim, Samer Talalka, and Alon Shamriz—were mistakenly identified as Hamas operatives and killed.

AFP

Where and when?

The tragic incident happened?in Shejaya, Gaza on Friday.

How did it happen?

Explaining what exactly happened, a senior Israel army officer has told The Times of Israel that on Friday morning, an Israeli soldier spotted three men exiting a building at Shejaya, a Hamas stronghold. The three were shirtless, and one of them carried a stick with a makeshift white flag.

AFP

Fearing that it was a Hamas trap, the soldier opened fire and shouted, "terrorists!" Two of the three men were killed in the firing. The third was wounded and managed to flee back into the building.

At this point, the battalion commander asked the forces not to fire. Shouts in Hebrew -- apparently by the injured hostage -- were heard. Soon after, the third man came out of the building and despite the no fire order, another soldier shot and killed him, the officer has told The Times of Israel. The three were later identified as Israeli hostages.

And, why?

The tragic death of three hostages in friendly fire have prompted louder calls for the Israel government to revive talks with Hamas. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, is adamant that military pressure was needed for negotiations to succeed.

"The guidance I give to the negotiations team is based on this pressure, and without it, we have nothing," he said, according to an AFP report.The news of the death of hostages has compounded the worries of the families of the other hostages.

"We feel like we're in a Russian roulette game (finding out) who will be next in line to be told the death of their loved one," Ruby Chen, father of 19-year-old hostage and soldier Itai, has said.

"They explained to us first that the ground operation would bring back the abductees. It doesn't work. Because since then, abductees have been seen returning, but not so much alive," AFP quoted him as saying.

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