Tel Aviv, Dec 16: Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops, in a case of mistaken identity, killed three Israeli hostages in northern Gaza’s Shejaiya neighbourhood on Friday.
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari in a statement on Friday night said that the incident occurred in the morning and the military bears full responsibility for the “tragic incident”, which happened “in an area where the soldiers encountered many terrorists, including suicide bombers”.
The hostages, who died after troops fired at them, were identified as Yohan Haim who was abducted by Hamas from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Samar Fouad Talalka – abducted from Nir Am and Alon Shamriz, also from Kfar Aza.
Hagari said that the incident occurred in the Gaza neighbourhood that has seen some of the heaviest fighting in recent days.
Anger over the mistaken killings of three hostages is likely to increase pressure on the Israeli government to renew Qatar-mediated negotiations with Hamas over swapping more captives for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel for freedom of hostages still languishing in Hamas’s captivity. .
Israeli forum mourns death of hostages
The Israeli Hostages and Missing Families Forum expressed grief and mourned the death of three hostages who were killed accidentally by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in northern Gaza.
In a statement issued by the Forum said that it shared the profound grief of the families of the three victims identified as Yotam Haim and Alon Shimriz, who were kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7, and Samer Talalka, who was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Am on the same day. (IANS)
