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Israeli military says it mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages during ground operation in Gaza

2023-12-16 00:00:00.0 独立报-世界新闻原网页

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The Israeli military has admitted to mistakenly killing three Israeli hostages during its ground operation in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli troops found the trio on Friday and fired towards them after mistakenly identifying them as a threat, said the army’s chief spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.

Yotam Haim, Samer Talalka and Alon Shamriz were killed in the Gaza City area of Shijaiyah, where troops have engaged in fierce battles against Hamas militants in recent days.

Yotam Haim was among the three Israeli hostages killed in the Gaza City area of Shijaiyah

" srcset="https://static.independent.co.uk/2023/12/15/19/Israel_Hostages_Limbo_08948-1.jpg?quality=75&width=320&auto=webp 320w, https://static.independent.co.uk/2023/12/15/19/Israel_Hostages_Limbo_08948-1.jpg?quality=75&width=640&auto=webp 640w" src="https://static.independent.co.uk/2023/12/15/19/Israel_Hostages_Limbo_08948-1.jpg" data-gallery-length="4" class="i-amphtml-fill-content i-amphtml-replaced-content" pinger-seen="true">

Yotam Haim was among the three Israeli hostages killed in the Gaza City area of Shijaiyah

(AP)

The trio’s bodies were taken to the Hatzvi Centre at the Shura Camp, where they were identified. Haim and Shamriz were kidnapped by Hamas from Kibbutz Kfar Aza on 7 October, while Talalka was taken by the militants from Kibbutz Nir Am on the same day.

Rear Admiral Hagari said it was not clear if the hostages had escaped their captors or been abandoned.

He said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) expressed “deep remorse” and sent “heartfelt condolences” to their families.

He added the IDF ”immediately” began investigating the incident.

People gather amid the destruction following an early morning Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip in December

(AFP via Getty Images)

The army said in a statement released on Friday evening: “The IDF emphasises 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.”

It added: “Our national mission is to locate the missing and return all the hostages home.”

As of Friday morning, Israel said 132 hostages remained in Gaza, with 20 of those having been killed.

Photographs of Israeli hostages being held by Hamas militants are projected on the walls of Jerusalem's Old City in November

It comes as a US envoy said the US and Israel were discussing a timetable for scaling back intense combat operations in the war against Hamas, even though they agree the overall fight will take months.

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