He Israeli army admitted this Friday that he had killed three Israeli hostages who were captive inside Gaza Stripthose who “wrongly identified as a threat”.
“During the fighting in Shujaiya, the IDF mistakenly identified three Israeli hostages as a threat. As a result, The troops shot at them and killed them.“, the military said in a statement, which did not specify when the accident occurred.
The army has been engaged in an intense fight against Hamas for more than a week. ShujayaA microdistrict on the outskirts of the city Gaza is considered one of the group’s strongholds and where Israel believes they are hiding several hostages who are being held within the enclave.
“This is a tragic incident and the army bears responsibility,” a spokesman said. Daniel Hagarywho clarified that in this area “soldiers encountered many terrorists, including suicide bombers.”
Daniel Hagari, Israeli Army Spokesperson | Photo: Screenshot
The army explained that during searches in the area where the incident occurred, suspicions regarding the identity of the deceasedTherefore, their bodies were transported to Israeli territory for examination, which “confirmed that they were three Israeli hostages.”
The hostages were identified as Yotam Chaim And Samer Talalkaboth were kidnapped last October by Hamas militants at kibbutz Kfar Aza and Nir Am, respectively; And a third person whose family has asked that his identity not be disclosed.
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Their bodies were taken to the Hatzvi center at the Shura military base, where most of the victims of the Hamas attack were identified, and where their remains were buried. analyzed and identified.
“Representatives of the Israel Defense Forces and the police They notified all the families of the hostages.“, the message says.
The army stated that They will look into the incident “immediately” and clarified that Shujayah is “an active war zone where there have been continuous clashes over the past few days.”
“Immediate lessons learned from this eventwhich were handed over to all troops on the ground,” the army said, expressing “deep remorse for the tragic incident” and its “Deepest condolences” to the families.
Of the more than 240 people abducted by Israel on Israeli soil during the October 7 attack, 129 hostages remain insideof which about twenty are considered dead.
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This morning, Israeli authorities announced that they had rescued the bodies of three hostages captured alive by Hamas, French-Israeli civilians. Elia Toledano; and soldiers Nick Beiser And Ron Sherman.
The army also confirmed today that three soldiers had died in action, raising the number of casualties in its ranks to 119 since the start of the ground offensive in the enclave.