Israeli Military Says It Mistakenly Killed 3 Hostages In Gaza

 

The IDF said Friday it mistakenly killed three hostages captured by Hamas.

The Israel Defense Forces said Friday it mistakenly killed three hostages during a ground operation in the Gaza Strip, an IDF spokesperson said Friday afternoon, just over two months after Gaza-based militant group Hamas captured roughly 240 hostages in its attack on Israel.

IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari confirmed the killing in a press briefing Friday, telling reporters Israeli forces identified three Israeli hostages it mistakenly perceived “as a threat” during a ground operation in Shejaiya, in northern Gaza.

Hagari said Israeli troops “fired toward them and they were killed.”

The three hostages—two of whom were identified as Yotam Haim and Samer Talalka (the third hostage’s name was not released at the request of his family)—were then taken into Israel for “examination,” when Hagari said it was “confirmed that they were three Israeli hostages.”

Their deaths come two weeks after fighting between Israel and Hamas resumed in the Palestinian territory, after a seven-day ceasefire in which Hamas released more than 100 hostages in return for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.