Israel’s military says hostages waving a white flag were killed by a soldier
Israel’s role in a conflict between the militants in Kibbutz Nir Am and a civilian population in the northern Gaza neighborhood of Shijaiyah
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deaths of the three captives an “unbearable tragedy.”
Last month, Hamas released more than 100 hostages in a seven-day truce in exchange for about 300 Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel. The three captives killed on Friday were among the more than 100 hostages believed still held by the Palestinian militant group.
Talalka, an Israeli Bedouin, was working with his father at a poultry hatchery in Kibbutz Nir Am on Oct. 7 when militants attacked, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement. Haim, a musician, and Shamriz, a computer engineering student, were at their homes in Kibbutz Kfar Aza when they were abducted, the group said.
“The IDF emphasizes that this is an active combat zone in which ongoing fighting over the last few days has occurred. Immediate lessons from the event have been learned, which have been passed on to all IDF troops in the field,” the military said.
“The grief and the pain, it just keeps accumulating,” said Addam Yekutieli, 37. “It’s even more of a tragic sign that the trajectory that we’re on — it’s not the right one.”
The woman said she was angry at the news. She said that the military operation to eliminate threats to Israel must come second to people dying.
Thousands of Israelis descended on the Tel Aviv headquarters of the military to protest the deaths of the hostages.
The preliminary report Saturday by the Israel Defense Forces, or IDF, said the hostages had managed to evade their captors in the northern Gaza neighborhood of Shijaiyah before they were “mistakenly identified” as they exited a building on Friday. They were then shot by an Israeli soldier.
An initial assessment suggested the hostages either “fled or were abandoned” by their captors during a skirmish, Hagari said. Hagari was asked if the abductees had their hands up or spoke in Hebrew and replied only that the military’s investigation was still underway.
Two were killed immediately and another was wounded and ran back into the building, an Israeli official said in a briefing on Saturday. The soldiers heard a cry for help. The commander of the battalion ordered the firing to stop. The third hostage died of his wounds.
Israeli soldiers shot and killed three Israeli hostages in Gaza City after mistakenly identifying them as a threat, Israel’s military announced Friday.
“We consider this a serious blow to the already limited freedom of the media in Gaza and call on the army to conduct a prompt investigation and explanation”, the FPA said.
On Friday, veteran Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa was killed in Gaza by fire from an Israeli drone at a school, according to the Foreign Press Association.
Adam Yekutieli, 37, an artist, thinks that Israel should negotiate another cease-fire to free more of their captives, because the deaths of three hostages reinforced his opinion.
Israeli prisoner’s father, Benjamin Chen, and the Palestinians in Tel Aviv after the Hamas Shooting – A U.S. Congressman
The group of people in central Tel Aviv decided to march through the city at night after the accidental shootings broke.
But he criticized Netanyahu’s government, who he said was not interested in meeting with families of the hostages. Chen believes that the Israeli government needs to be more active. He said that Palestinians held in Israeli jails must be released to get the hostages back alive.
“We wanted to thank the Jewish people for all they’ve done for us, so that we could say thank you,” Chen said. “I think the only other president who would do anything to make sure that we saw our loved ones was him, on behalf of his administration.”
TEL AVIV, Israel — An investigation into the killing of three hostages held by Hamas in Gaza has found that the captives were shirtless and waving a white flag as Israel soldiers fired on them.
On Saturday afternoon in central Tel Aviv, a crowd gathered to hear from families of the captives. Itay Chen’s father said he met with President Biden and other U.S. officials last week.