Israeli hostages were 'waving white flag' when they were shot dead by the IDF

16 December 2023 , 14:39

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One of three Israeli hostages, Yotam Haim, who was mistakenly gunned down by his own army (Image: HMFF/UNPIXS)

The Israeli military mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages Friday during its ground operation in the Gaza Strip, military officials said.

The army's chief spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said it was not clear if they had escaped their captors or been abandoned, and the army was investigating.

Local media named the three men as Yotam Haim, 28, Alon Shamriz, 26, and Samer El-Talalka, 22. Their deaths have sparked fury on the streets of Tel Aviv as the public demands answers for why they were killed by their own army.

It reportedly happened in an area of intense combat, where Hamas is known to use deception tactics and operate in civilian clothing. Providing further details on the incident, an Israeli official said the trio were fired on in a manner that goes against Israel's own rules of engagement.

The soldier responsible reportedly saw the hostages emerging close to the Israeli squadron. The three men had been incorrectly marked as a threat, they added. "They're all without shirts and they have a stick with a white cloth on it. The soldier feels threatened and opens fire. He declares that they're terrorists, they (forces) open fire, two are killed immediately," said the military official.

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Alon Shamriz was also shot dead (HMFF/UNPIXS)

The third man was left injured and managed to scramble to a neaby building. Once inside, he called out for help in Hebrew, and a ceasefire order was issued. But despite the order, "there's another burst of fire towards the third figure and he also dies". It was this second element that was "against our rules of engagement", he said.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian president met with United States officials to discuss postwar arrangements for Gaza that could include reactivating Palestinian security forces driven out by Hamas in its 2007 takeover of the territory.

Any role for Palestinian security forces in Gaza is bound to elicit strong opposition from Israel, which seeks to maintain an open-ended security presence there. The Palestinian Authority, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank but is deeply unpopular with Palestinians.

Samer Talalka, the other hostage killed (HMFF/UNPIXS)

More than 18,700 Palestinians have been killed since Israel declared war on Hamas, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths. Israel says 116 of its soldiers have died in its ground offensive after Hamas raided southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people - mostly civilians - and taking about 240 hostages.

An Israeli strike killed a Palestinian camera operator for the TV network Al Jazeera and wounded its chief Gaza correspondent Friday as they reported at a school in the south of the besieged territory, the network said.

Camera operator Samer Abu Daqqa and correspondent Wael Dahdouh had gone to the school in the southern city of Khan Younis after it was hit by a strike earlier in the day. While they were there, an Israeli drone hit the school with a second strike, the network said.

Dahdouh was heavily wounded in his arm and shoulder, while Abu Daqqa was found dead Friday evening after an ambulance that tried to reach the school to evacuate him had to turn back because roads were blocked by the rubble of destroyed houses, the network said in a statement.

Thai hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 wave from inside a bus as they're released (AFP via Getty Images)

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Abu Daqqa is the 64th journalist to be killed since the conflict erupted between Hamas and Israel on Oct. 7. That number includes 57 Palestinians, four Israelis and three Lebanese journalists.

The 45-year-old Abu Daqqa, a Khan Younis native, joined Al Jazeera in June 2004, working as both a cameraman and an editor. He leaves behind three sons and a daughter.

The Israeli army did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment about Abu Daqqa's death.

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President Joe Biden was briefed on Friday by his national security team about Israeli forces mistakenly killing three hostages in Gaza, according to White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.

"It's heartbreaking, it's tragic," Kirby said.

Kirby said the United States expected Israel would conduct an investigation to better understand the circumstances that lead to Israeli troops mistakenly killing the captives. He added that at the moment too little was known about the incident to "make some sort of broad judgment about the specific circumstances here."

Ryan Fahey