Israel: How we killed 3 of our captives held by Hamas

TEL AVIV – The Israeli Defence Forces, IDF has said it killed three Israeli captives during their ground operation in Gaza. In a statement, the IDF said the incident happened during combat in Shejaiya. 

“During combat in Shejaiya, the IDF mistakenly identified three Israeli hostages as a threat. As a result, the troops fired toward them and they were killed.

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

The IDF said their bodies were taken to the “Hatzvi” Center at the Shura Camp for further examination, where the hostages were identified”.

According to him, the deceased hostages are Yotam Haim, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza by the Hamas terrorist organization on October 7th.

“Samer Talalka, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Am by the Hamas terrorist organization on October 7th.The third hostages’ family has been notified, who requested that his name will not be broadcasted. IDF and Israel Police representatives have notified all of the families”, the statement added.

The IDF, the statement said, began reviewing the incident immediately. “The IDF emphasized  “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 statement noted.

The IDF expressed 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.