3 hostages were shot dead after being misidentified by soldier, Israel says : NPR

TEL AVIV, Israel — An investigation into the killing of three hostages held by Hamas in Gaza has found that the captives were shirtless and waving a white flag as Israel soldiers fired on them.

The preliminary report Saturday by the Israel Defense Forces, or IDF, said the hostages had managed to evade their captors in the northern Gaza neighborhood of Shijaiyah before they were “mistakenly identified” as they exited a building on Friday. They were then shot by an Israeli soldier.

Two were killed immediately and another was wounded and ran back into the building, an Israeli official said in a briefing on Saturday. Soldiers then heard a cry for help in Hebrew. The soldier’s battalion commander ordered the firing to stop. The third hostage later died of his wounds.

Last month, Hamas released more than 100 hostages in a seven-day truce in exchange for about 300 Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel. The three captives killed on Friday were among the more than 100 hostages believed still held by the Palestinian militant group.

The preliminary report concluded that the soldiers involved in the accidental shooting did not follow the IDF’s own rules of engagement. The hostages had been dressed in civilian clothes and waving a white flag before they were shot by a soldier who felt under threat, the military official said.

Hamas militants wear civilian clothes to deceive the military, the official said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deaths of the three captives — Yotam Haim, Samer Fuad El-Talalka and Alon Shamriz, all in their 20s — an “unbearable tragedy.”

Families of the hostages have kept up public pressure on Netanyahu’s government, calling for Israel’s first priority to be their safe return, and not the military operation to eradicate Hamas. Adding to that pressure in recent weeks, captives who were released during last month’s cease-fire have been speaking publicly about their time in captivity.

Shortly after the news of the deaths broke Friday evening, a group of people gathered in central Tel Aviv and marched through the city’s streets at night, calling out to others to wake up and join them.

Among them was Adam Yekutieli, 37, an artist, who said the deaths of the three hostages reinforced for him that Israel needs to negotiate another cease-fire to free more of the captives.

“There’s no military solution to this situation,” he said. “Israel is bombing its way into a corner that it won’t be able to get out of.”

However, Ela Vinokur, 38, said a new hostage exchange deal should be the priority. “We have to make a deal,” she said. “Only diplomacy will work. And we need to start with saving lives first.”