Israel-Palestine war: Israel mistakenly shoots dead three hostages in northern Gaza
The Israeli military says the captives had either
escaped or had been abandoned by their captors before being mistaken as a
threat
By MEE staff
Published date: 15 December 2023
The Israeli army killed three hostages in the Shujaiya
neighbourhood of northern Gaza on Friday after mistaking them for a
"threat", according to Daniel Hagari, a military
spokesperson.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the hostages had been shot after managing
to escape their captors.
Israel is "reviewing" the incident according
to the military spokesperson.
"Immediate lessons from the event have been
learned, which have been passed on to all IDF troops in the field. The IDF
expresses deep remorse over the tragic incident and sends the families its
heartfelt condolences," Hagari posted on X, the social media platform
formerly known as Twitter.
The hostages have been identified as Alon Shamriz, 26;
Samer Fuad El-Talalka, 24; and Yotam Haim, 28. Haim and Shamriz were abducted
from Kibbutz Kfar Azza and Talalka was taken from Hura.
"We believe that the three fled or were abandoned
by terrorists who held them captive. There was a tragic error here that we will
investigate fully," Hagari said, according to Haaretz.
Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on 7 October
killed 1,200 people. Most of those who died were civilians and included
children and elderly Israelis, as well as dozens of foreign nationals. Around
240 hostages were taken back to Gaza during the attack. Some of the captives
were freed during a truce but over 100 are still being held.
Since the Hamas-led attack, an Israeli offensive has
wrought massive destruction across Gaza, displacing most of the embattled
territory's 2.3m population. At least 18,787 Palestinians have been killed, among whom around 70 percent
are women and children.
Before Israel announced it killed the three hostages,
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said it had revised the
number of hostages in Gaza to 132. Israel considers the 20 dead to still be
hostages.
"Together with the entire people of Israel, I bow
my head in deep sorrow and mourn the death of three of our dear sons who were
kidnapped," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement
about the killed hostages.
"My heart goes out to the grieving families in
their difficult time."
White House national security council spokesperson
John Kirby told reporters that the news of the killing was "heartbreaking
and tragic" and that US President Joe Biden had been briefed on the issue.
Intense fighting
Earlier on Friday, an attack near a school run by the
United Nations refugee agency for Palestinians (Unrwa) in Khan Younis killed at
least 33 people, according to medics at Nasser Hospital.
Most of those killed were children and women, Al
Jazeera reported.
Heavy clashes were also reported to have taken place
between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters east of Rafah in the southern
Gaza Strip on Friday, according to Palestinian and Israeli media.
Clashes have been reported in northern and
central areas of the Gaza Strip on Friday, as well as in Khan Younis, but so
far, less fighting has taken place in Rafah, the southernmost town bordering
Egypt.
An Israeli drone strike also killed one Al Jazeera
journalist and wounded another on Friday.
Al Jazeera's Gaza bureau chief Wael al-Dahdouh and
videographer Samer Abu Daqqa were hit while covering the aftermath of an
earlier strike on a UN school sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis in the
southern Gaza Strip.
Footage of al-Dahdouh at the Nasser Hospital after the
attack showed him conscious and receiving treatment for an injury to his arm.
His injuries do not appear to be life-threatening, Al-Jazeera reported.
Abu Daqqa later succumbed to his injuries.
Meanwhile, Hamas's armed wing said it had prepared for
a long war with Israel, the group's former chief and senior leader told a
Turkish newspaper on Friday.
Khaled Mashaal said the group has 35,000 fighters who
have planned to fight a war "that would last months".
The besieged enclave has been under a complete
telecommunications and internet blackout since Wednesday evening.
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