Israeli troops mistakenly killed three hostages while fighting in the Gaza Strip, Israeli military officials said, with the prisoners being wrongly identified as potential threats after they apparently escaped from their Hamas captors.
28-year-old Yotam Haim, 22-year-old Samer Talalka, and a third unidentified hostage were accidentally shot dead by Israeli troops, an IDF spokesperson said.
Israel’s army has said it accidentally shot three hostages dead after “mistakenly” identifying them as a threat. “During combat in Shejaiya, the IDF mistakenly identified three Israeli hostages as a threat and as a result, fired toward them and the hostages were killed,” Israel Defence Forces said in a statement.