A TERRIBLE MISTAKE

‘Deep remorse,’ after IDF kills three Israeli hostages it misidentifies as terrorists

"The IDF emphasizes that this is an active combat zone in which ongoing fighting over the last few days has occurred," stated the Israeli military. 

 

JNS

Dec 15, 2023

 

(From top down) Yotam Haim, Alon Shamriz and Samer Talalka were mistaken for terrorists and killed by the IDF

 

The Israel Defense Forces mistakenly identified three Israeli hostages as threats and killed them amid combat in the Gaza City neighborhood of Shuja’iyya, the Israeli military stated on Friday.

“During searches and checks in the area in which the incident occurred, a suspicion arose over the identities of the deceased,” the IDF stated. “Their bodies were transferred to Israeli territory for examination, after which it was confirmed that they were three Israeli hostages.”

Upon further examination of the bodies, Israel identified the three hostages: Yotam Haim, 28, whom Hamas terrorists kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza; Samer Talalka, 22, whom Hamas kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Am and Alon Shamriz, 26, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza.

“The IDF began reviewing the incident immediately,” the military said. “The IDF emphasizes that this is an active combat zone in which ongoing fighting over the last few days has occurred. Immediate lessons from the event have been learned, which have been passed on to all IDF troops in the field.”

The Israeli military “expresses deep remorse over the tragic incident and sends the families its heartfelt condolences,” it added. “Our national mission is to locate the missing and return all the hostages home.