The Israeli military has admitted killing three hostages during combat operations in the Shejaiya of Gaza.
In a Thursday press statement, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed killing hostages Yotam Haim, Samer Talalka, and Alon Shamriz.
“During combat in Shejaiya, the IDF mistakenly identified 3 Israeli hostages as a threat and as a result, fired toward them and the hostages were killed,” the IDF explained.
Following the shooting incident, Israeli troops gathered the three bodies and transferred them to Israeli-controlled territory where the Israeli side was able to identify their remains as individuals abducted during the Oct. 7 attacks when Hamas terrorists breached the Gaza–Israel barrier and killed over 1,000 people and took hundreds more captive.
“The IDF began reviewing the incident immediately. The IDF emphasizes that this is an active combat zone in which ongoing fighting over the last few days has occurred,” the IDF statement continues. “Immediate lessons from the event have been learned, which have been passed on to all IDF troops in the field. The IDF expresses deep remorse over the tragic incident and sends the families its heartfelt condolences. Our national mission is to locate the missing and return all the hostages home.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also expressed his condolences in a Friday statement.
“Together with the entire people of Israel, I bow my head in deep sorrow and mourn the death of three of our hostages, including Yotam Haim and Samer Fouad Talalka. This is an unbearable tragedy and all of Israel is grieving their loss this evening. My heart goes out to the bereaved families at this difficult time,” Mr. Netanyahu said.
Despite the tragic incident, the Israeli prime minister vowed that Israeli forces would continue their efforts to free as many hostages as they can.
“I strengthen our courageous soldiers engaged in the sacred mission of bringing home our hostages, while risking their lives in doing so,” he said. “Today, on this painful evening, we will dress our wounds, learn the lessons and continue the most important effort of bringing all the hostages home.”
Several other hostages have been killed amid Israeli airstrikes and ground combat throughout the Gaza Strip over the past two months. The Hamas side has repeatedly blamed hostage deaths on Israeli airstrikes and other military operations in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces have been able to rescue numerous other hostages during combat operations. International negotiators also arranged a seven-day ceasefire in November, during which Hamas and other Palestinian groups in Gaza released more than 100 hostages, including 81 Israelis and 24 from other nationalities in exchange for 240 Palestinians who’d been held in Israeli prisons.
White House Spokesman Shares Condolences for Slain Hostages, Journalist
“It’s heartbreaking, it’s tragic, this news coming out of Gaza today about these hostages being killed in the conduct of a raid,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said during a Friday press briefing. “I want to be careful here not to speak to too many specifics because we don’t have perfect visibility on exactly how this operation unfolded and how this tragic mistake was made. But obviously, this is not an outcome that anybody wanted to see.”
During the Thursday press briefing, Mr. Kirby also expressed condolences for a journalist killed while working for Al Jazeera in the Gaza Strip.
Al Jazeera said their photojournalist, Samer Abudaqa, was killed in an Israeli drone strike while he was reporting at a school in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis. The Qatar state-owned news outlet said Mr. Abudaqa was initially injured in the attack but bled out over several hours as Israeli forces impeded ambulances and rescue workers from reaching the area.
“Our deepest sympathies and condolences go out to the family and the loved ones and the colleagues and the co-workers of Samer Abudaqa,” Mr. Kirby said.
Mr. Kirby said journalists need to be free to cover conflicts around the world and “it’s never acceptable to deliberately target them” but said the U.S. side had not seen any indications that the Israeli side has deliberately targeted journalists throughout the ongoing conflict.
“We haven’t seen any indications that [Israeli forces] are, as a matter of course and policy, or even operational doctrine, deliberately going after journalists trying to cover this war,” Mr. Kirby said.
An IDF spokesperson told NTD News that Israeli forces are taking “all operationally feasible measures” to avoid civilian casualties.
“The IDF has never, and will never, deliberately target journalists. Given the ongoing exchanges of fire, remaining in an active combat zone has inherent risks. The IDF will continue to counter threats while persisting to mitigate harm to civilians,” the IDF spokesperson added.
