Israeli soldiers today mistakenly killed three hostages kidnapped by the terrorist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip. During a battle in Shujaiya, the three hostages were “inadvertently seen as a threat”, which is why soldiers fired at them, the army said on X (Twitter) this evening. An investigation was immediately launched and the bodies had already been brought to Israel.
“The Army deeply regrets the tragic incident and conveys its deepest condolences to the families,” the statement added. “Our national task is to locate the missing people and bring all the hostages home.” The Israeli government has been under strong internal political pressure for weeks from relatives of those kidnapped, who have called for an end to military action.
Incident in “active combat area”
With the mediation of the Emirate of Qatar, several dozen hostages were released at the end of November in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Among them were the wife and children of Tal Schoham, with dual Israeli-Austrian citizenship, who is apparently still under the control of the terrorists. After an agreement to extend the agreement failed, Israel resumed military action to destroy the terrorist organization Hamas.
Two of the dead hostages were identified as Jotam Haim and Samer Talalka. The name of the third person killed was not released at the family's request. The incident occurred in an “active combat area,” the army said. The first lessons have already been learned from the incident and have been passed on to troops operating in the Gaza Strip.