The Israeli army said on Saturday that the hostages killed by its soldiers in Gaza waved a white flag and spoke in Hebrew, in an area where troops are being ambushed, according to the first elements of the investigation.
• Read also: Israel mourns three hostages killed “by mistake” in Gaza
The three hostages, aged 25 to 28, appeared “a few dozen meters from one of our positions” in the Choujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City, a military official told journalists.
“One of the soldiers saw them when they appeared. They don’t wear t-shirts and they have a stick with a white cloth on it. The soldier felt threatened and shoots, he declares that they are terrorists. Two (hostages) are killed,” added this source.
“Immediately, another was injured and rushed into the building,” added this source, specifying that the soldiers then “heard a call for help in Hebrew.”
“The battalion commander orders the shooting to stop, but again bursts are fired in the direction of the third person and he dies,” continued the military official, adding that the incident went “against our rules of conduct.” ‘commitment”.
Shortly after the announcement of the deaths of the three hostages on Friday evening, families and supporters demonstrated to demand an immediate agreement for the release of the hostages, in Tel Aviv, where they also planned to meet on Saturday .
The army reported a “tragic event” which occurred in an area of the Gaza Strip where soldiers are facing “great pressure”, “intense fighting” and “numerous ambushes”.
According to the official, a building on which “SOS” was written is “a few hundred meters” from the scene of the incident and the army is investigating to find out “if there is a link with the hostages” .
Some 250 people were taken hostage during the unprecedented attack launched on October 7 by Hamas on Israeli soil, which left around 1,140 dead, mostly civilians, according to the authorities. To date, 129 hostages are still being held in Gaza.
In retaliation, Israel promised to “destroy” Hamas in power in Gaza and its strikes left 18,800 dead, according to the authorities of the Palestinian Islamist movement.