Three Israeli hostages who escaped from Hamas only to be mistakenly killed by the IDF were stripped to the waist and waving a white flag at the time, according to new reports.
Yotam Haim, Samer Talalka, and Alon Shamriz were all shirtless when an Israel Defense Forces soldier stationed at a building in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood noticed them exiting a nearby structure, the Times of Israel reported, citing an initial IDF investigation.
One of the men – all of whom were kidnapped by Hamas from southern Israel on October 7 – was also holding a makeshift white flag, a senior official in the Southern Command told the outlet.
The IDF soldier, however, believed the man was trying to lure him into a trap, and opened fire shouting “terrorist!” to other teams, the report found.
Two of the hostages were killed instantly, while the third was wounded and fled back into the building they came out of, the Times of Israel explained.
The battalion commander then went outside the building that the soldiers were shooting at, and asked the soldiers to hold their fire.
Haim, 28, was abducted from Kibbutz Kfar Aza during a Hamas terrorist attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7. AP Samer Talalka, who is in his early 20s, was taken from Kibbutz Nir Am, according to reports. A family photo of Alon Shamriz has been identified as the third Israeli casualty killed by an IDF strike inside Gaza. Avi Lulu/Facebook
Around that time, soldiers in the area could hear someone shouting for “help” in Hebrew, the report claimed.
A third hostage then reappeared from the building, prompting a soldier to open fire and kill him.
Only after the third man was killed did the battalion commander realize his appearance was unusual, according to the Times of Israel.
The IDF announced the killing on Friday. IDF /Telegram The IDF soldier, however, believed the man was trying to lure him into a trap, and opened fire shouting “terrorist!” to other teams, the report found. Jim Hollander/UPI/Shutterstock A protester with red paint in his hand marches through the street after demonstrating outside the headquarters of the Israel Defense Forces. Getty Images
All three bodies were taken to Israel for identification.
The soldier who opened fire immediately after seeing the three men acted against protocol — as did the second soldier who killed the third hostage, a senior official who spoke to the Times of Israel said.
But the hostage scenario running around the battle area was not taken into account by the IDF, the Times of Israel said.
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IDF forces have killed at least 38 terrorists in Shejaiya over the past few days and have not identified any Gaza civilians, the official told the media.
The only individuals seen in civilian clothes were Hamas operatives – who then collected the abandoned weapons, and used them to shoot IDF soldiers before fleeing, the report said.
The IDF has also encountered several unarmed civilians who were actually Hamas suicide bombers, the Times of Israel added.
On Wednesday, troops in Shejaiya found a building with spray-painted walls that read “SOS” in English along with a Hebrew message that said “Please, three hostages,” the senior official said.
The military initially thought the building was trapped, but the military is now questioning whether the discovery is related to Friday’s mistaken shooting.
Immediately after the three hostages were killed, the IDF communicated a new protocol for the army regarding the possibility of additional hostages escaping from custody.
The results of the preliminary investigation into the shooting have been submitted to the families of Haim, Talalka, and Shamriz, the Times of Israel said.
Haim, 28, and Shamriz, 26, were abducted from Kibbutz Kfar Aza during a Hamas terrorist attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Talalka, who is in her early 20s, was taken from Kibbutz Nir Am.
The contents of the IDF’s initial report emerged as news broke that Mossad chief David Barnea met with Qatar’s PM to discuss a possible new hostage deal, according to the Walla news channel.
Protesters march through the streets near a clock showing 69 days in captivity. Getty Images
The talks, however, are “just the beginning” of a “long, difficult and complicated” process, sources told the Walla site.
Qatar played a leading role in the first temporary ceasefire agreement, which saw the release of 105 civilian hostages within a week.
Israel’s war cabinet will also meet late Saturday afternoon, the Times of Israel said, citing Hebrew media reports.
IDF troops are still fighting in the Gaza Strip. IDF/GPO/SIPA/Shutterstock
Also on Saturday, the New York Times revealed that Israel was aware of the financial capabilities of Hamas in 2018 – but did nothing to restrict the flow of cash to the terror group.
Documents found on the computers of senior Hamas officials reveal private equity funds worth hundreds of millions of dollars – with some sources saying up to $500 million, the outlet reported.
“Everyone is talking about the intelligence failure of October 7, but nobody is talking about the failure to stop the money,” Udi Levy, former head of the Mossad’s economic warfare division, told the New York Times.
Levy insists that he told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Hamas’s finances in 2015, but was denied.
“I can tell you for sure that I talked to him about this. But he didn’t really care about it,” he claimed.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
