The Israeli Prime Minister deplored “an unbearable tragedy” after the death on Friday in the Gaza Strip of three Israeli hostages from Hamas, “misidentified” as a “threat” and shot dead by soldiers.
The events occurred in Choujaiya, in the north of the Gaza Strip, when “the army mistakenly identified three Israeli hostages as a threat,” army spokesperson Daniel Hagari announced to the television.
“The soldiers then opened fire in their direction and they were killed,” he explained, adding that the hostages had “either escaped or been abandoned” by their captors.
In the evening, the head of government, Benjamin Netanyahu, said he regretted “an unbearable tragedy” which plunged “the entire State of Israel into mourning”.
The victims are Yotam Haïm, a 28-year-old heavy metal drummer, and Samer al-Talalqa, a 25-year-old Bedouin, both kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Am during the deadly Hamas attack in southern Israel on 7 October, specifies an army press release.
The third hostage killed was Alon Lulu Shamriz, 26, a resident of Kibbutz Kfar Aza, according to the same source.
Their bodies were repatriated to Israel.
The army emphasizes that they died “in an active combat zone” in which its soldiers have been waging “a continuous battle for several days” against Hamas fighters.
She expressed her “deep regrets” to the families, stressing that her mission was to “locate the missing and bring the hostages home”.
“Friendly” fire
These deaths bring to 22 the number of hostages confirmed dead, out of some 250 people forcibly taken by Hamas in the Gaza Strip on October 7. 110 were released, and 129 remain captive without it being possible to know if they are alive.
The war in the Gaza Strip was launched in response to the attack on October 7, unprecedented in Israel’s history, carried out by Hamas, which left some 1,140 dead, mostly civilians, according to authorities. .
Israel promised to “destroy” Hamas and launched an offensive on the Gaza Strip. Nearly 18,800 people, 70% of them women, children and adolescents, were killed by Israeli bombings, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health, in power in Gaza.
After intensely bombarding the small coastal territory governed since 2007 by the Palestinian Islamist movement, Israel launched a ground offensive on October 27.
Since then, 119 Israeli soldiers have been killed, around 20% of whom were victims of so-called “friendly” strikes or fire, in other words coming from their own armed forces, according to data from military authorities.
Family associations are calling for a ceasefire until all the hostages have been released, fearing that they will be killed by their captors or collateral victims of the fighting.
A week ago, the Israeli army admitted the failure of an operation to free hostages, during which two soldiers were seriously injured. Hamas, for its part, claimed that an Israeli hostage, Sahar Baruch, 25, had died during this operation, broadcasting images of his remains. His family confirmed that it was indeed the young man.