Israeli military mistakenly kills 3 hostages, sparking protests in Tel Aviv

Israeli military mistakenly kills 3 hostages, sparking protests in Tel Aviv

Israel on Saturday mourned the deaths of three Gaza hostages killed when troops mistook them for a threat, with the military expressing remorse over a “tragic” incident that sparked protests in Tel Aviv.

The Israeli army said Yotam Haim, Alon Shamriz and Samer El-Talalqa — all aged in their twenties — were shot during operations in a neighbourhood of Gaza City.

“During combat in Shejaiya, the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) mistakenly identified three Israeli hostages as a threat and as a result, fired toward them and the hostages were killed,” Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said.

“The IDF expresses deep sorrow regarding this disaster and shares in the grief of the families.”

Their bodies were transferred to Israel, and on examination were confirmed as being Haim, a 28-year-old heavy metal drummer, 25-year-old Bedouin man El-Talalqa and Shamriz, aged 26.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described their deaths as an “unbearable tragedy”.

“All of Israel is grieving their loss,” he said, while the White House called the incident a “tragic mistake”.

As news of the incident spread late Friday, hundreds of people gathered at Israel’s ministry of defence in Tel Aviv to call on Netanyahu’s government to secure the release of 129 hostages still being held.

The demonstrators waved Israeli flags and brandished placards.

“Every day, a hostage dies,” read one message.

“I am dying of fear,” said Merav Svirsky, sister of Hamas-held hostage Itay Svirsky.

“We demand a deal now.”

In November, a short-lived truce saw more than 100 hostages freed in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

That deal has since lapsed and fighting has resumed.

‘More careful’

But the hostages’ deaths have heightened already fierce scrutiny of how Israel is conducting its ground and air assault in Gaza.

Netanyahu’s tactics have brought searing criticism from neighbouring states, and deep unease among allies in Europe, the United States and beyond.

With Palestinian authorities claiming the war has now killed 18,800 people, the White House, which provides billions of dollars in military aid to Israel, voiced growing concern over civilian casualties.

“I want them to be focused on how to save civilian lives — not stop going after Hamas, but be more careful,” said US President Joe Biden.

Biden’s top security advisor Jake Sullivan was visiting Israel and the West Bank to drive that message home.

“We do not believe that it makes sense for Israel, or is right for Israel, to… reoccupy Gaza over the long term,” Sullivan said after meeting Israeli leaders.

In the Gaza Strip, Israel continued its fierce offensive in the southern city of Khan Yunis.

News channel Al Jazeera said that one of its journalists, Samer Abudaqa, had been killed and another, Wael Dahdouh, had been wounded by “shrapnel from an Israeli missile attack” in Khan Yunis.

More than 60 journalists and media staff have died since the war began, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

“We were reporting, we were filming, we had finished and we were with the civil defence, but when we were on the way back, they hit us with a missile,” said Dahdouh, who lost his wife, two children and grandchild earlier in the war.