Hostages were holding white cloth on stick when Israeli forces shot them dead, IDF says
Three Israeli hostages mistakenly killed by the IDF had been holding a white flag, an Israeli military official has said.
The official said an initial inquiry into the incident has found the hostages were fired upon against Israel’s rules of engagement.
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The IDF said yesterday that the victims – all Israeli men in their 20s – were killed during combat with Hamas militants.
They had wrongly been identified as a threat, the military said previously.
(L-R) Yotam Haim, Samer Talalka and Alon Shamriz
The victims were identified as Samer al Talalka, 22, Yotam Haim, 28, and Alon Shamriz, 26.
Sharing further updates, the IDF official said the hostages were killed in an area of intense combat where Hamas militants operate in civilian attire and use deception tactics.
A soldier saw the hostages emerging tens of metres from Israeli forces in the area of Shejaiya, he added.
“They’re all without shirts and they have a stick with a white cloth on it. The soldier feels threatened and opens fire. He declares that they’re terrorists, they [forces] open fire, two are killed immediately,” the military official stated.
The third hostage was wounded and retreated into a nearby building where he called for help in Hebrew, the official said.
“Immediately the battalion commander issues a ceasefire order, but again there’s another burst of fire towards the third
figure and he also dies,” said the official. “This was against our rules of engagement,” he added.
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The deaths of the three hostages sparked a protest in Tel Aviv
Hundreds of protesters filled the streets of Tel Aviv last night after the IDF first announced the deaths.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident an “unbearable tragedy” and vowed to continue “with a supreme effort to return all the hostages home safely”.
“Together with the entire people of Israel, I bow my head in deep sorrow and mourn the death of three of our dear sons who were kidnapped,” Mr Netanyahu said.
“My heart goes out to the grieving families in their difficult time.”
Protests in Tel Aviv
The three killed hostages were abducted by Hamas during their attack on 7 October which triggered the war. More than 100 hostages still remain captive, according to Israeli authorities.
‘We had so many hopes he would come back to us’
A relative of one of the three hostages killed by the IDF said his family had “so many hopes” that he would return safely.
Alaa al Talalka, the cousin of Samer al Talalka, also told Israeli broadcaster Kan that now was “not the time” to seek someone to blame for his death.
“We’re not going to start pointing fingers, who is guilty and who is not. It is just not the time,” he said.
“The families are thinking only of how to bring the hostages back alive. This is the time to ask for the war to end.”
The Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum, which represents the families of hostages, expressed its condolences and paid tribute to the victims.
It said that “Yotam was a gifted musician and dedicated metal music fan who idolised the band Megadeth” while “Samer was an avid motorcyclist who loved to ride around the countryside and spend time with friends”.
The forum added: “Alon’s family and friends described him as a lover of life and a dedicated basketball fan.”
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
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IDF reservists call for end to war in Gaza
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More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.
A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.
Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.
Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.
The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.
Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.
Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.
Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.
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Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.
Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.
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