According to the army, the three dead hostages, all shirtless, were holding a piece of white cloth tied to a stick. According to the Hague Land Warfare Code, this is considered a sign of protection and a symbol of surrender. The dead men emerged from a building several dozen meters away from the troops, a military official said. They were shirtless and one of them was holding a stick with a piece of white cloth in his hand.
A soldier reportedly felt threatened and opened fire. Two of the men were killed directly. A third man fled into the house. A commander ordered the fire to cease, but when the third man returned outside, shots were fired again. He was also killed. According to the information, a distress call was also heard in Hebrew.
“Action against our rules of engagement”
The action was “against our rules of engagement,” said army spokesman Jonathan Conricus. Soldiers were asked to exercise extra caution when confronted with people in civilian clothes. The army expressed “deepest regret over the tragic incident.” “Immediate lessons” were learned from this and communicated to all Israeli units.
Dead hostages: Israel's army takes position
Army spokesman Jonathan Conricus commented on the accidentally killed hostages to CNN. Soldiers were urged to exercise extra caution when confronted with people in civilian clothes. Enemy units must also often be dressed in civilian clothing.
The army spokesman also made it clear that this was an active combat zone where troops had already been lured into ambushes. Attackers also tend to wear “jeans and sneakers”. Almost all enemy units that attacked Israeli troops with anti-tank rifles were dressed in civilian clothes.
“It’s not a result anyone wanted”
According to the army, the bodies of the three hostages were taken to Israel. Israeli forces identified those accidentally killed as 26-year-old Alon Lulu Shamris and 28-year-old musician Jotam Haim, both kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Asa, and 25-year-old Bedouin Samer al-Talalka from Kibbutz Nir Am. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident an “unbearable tragedy.”
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US to Israel: Limit the war to fighting Hamas
The US government classified the deaths of the three hostages as “painful” and “tragic”. “Clearly this is not an outcome anyone wanted,” National Security Council Communications Director John Kirby said Friday. However, the case is not suitable for making a general judgment about whether the Israeli military is capable of acting precisely in the Gaza Strip, Kirby said.
Reports: New hostage release negotiations
According to the latest Israeli information, there are still 129 hostages in the Gaza Strip. Hundreds of people, including relatives of hostages, demonstrated in front of the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on Friday night after the accidental murder of the three hostages became known. Protesters demanded a quick new agreement to release those kidnapped.
Israel: Demonstrations for the release of hostages
Hundreds of people demonstrated in Israel for the immediate release of hostages still held captive by Hamas. The Israeli military accidentally killed three Israeli hostages while fighting Hamas.
According to reports in the Wall Street Journal, representatives of Israel and Qatar are negotiating the release of hostages in Norway on Saturday. However, the newspaper did not cite any source for this. There is also talk of a ceasefire for the release of Israeli hostages.
According to the news portal Axios, the head of the Israeli Mossad secret service, David Barnea, reportedly met with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Oslo. There is currently no official confirmation of the meeting. According to Qatari sources, negotiations on a new ceasefire in the Gaza war continue.