Israeli army: hostages killed by mistake waved white flag
A soldier saw the men, felt threatened and opened fire, the report continued. "He explains that they are terrorists. They (the soldiers) open fire. Two are killed immediately, one is injured and runs back into the building," the army representative reported. The soldiers then heard a cry for help in Hebrew.
The battalion commander then immediately gave the order to cease fire, said the army representative. Nevertheless, there had been another burst of fire in the direction of the third person, who had then also been killed. It was possible that the hostages had been left behind or were able to escape.
The military explained that a few hundred meters away from the scene of the incident was a house with the inscription "SOS". The army is now investigating whether there was a connection between the building and the hostages.
The killing of the men was "against our rules of engagement", said the army representative. He spoke of a "tragic" incident. There had been "intense fighting" in the area and the soldiers were under "heavy pressure", he said. "The terrorists are in civilian clothes. They wear sneakers and jeans and there are many ambushes there." The Hamas fighters had "tried to lure us into traps". He announced that the rules of engagement would again be issued to all soldiers.
The three hostages killed, Yotam Haim, Alon Shamriz and Samer El-Talalqa, were among around 250 people abducted during the brutal attack on Israel by the radical Islamic group Hamas on October 7. According to Israeli reports, around 1140 people were killed in the attack, mainly civilians.
In response, the Israeli army has since bombed targets in the Gaza Strip and launched a ground offensive. According to the latest figures from the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, which cannot be independently verified, around 18,800 people have been killed so far.
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The report stated that the first two hostages were killed instantly, while the third was injured and then also killed due to a subsequent burst of fire, all unintentionally. The army acknowledged that this incident went against their rules of engagement, as the hostages were waving a white flag, a symbol of surrender. The three hostages who lost their lives were identified as Yotam Haim, Alon Shamriz, and Samer El-Talalqa. The accidental killings occurred in the Gaza Strip, a region that has been subjected to intense Israeli military action following the abduction of around 250 people by Hamas.
Source: www.stern.de
