The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said, “the IDF mistakenly identified 3 Israeli hostages as a threat and as a result, fired toward them and the hostages were killed”.
 |
| Three (3) Israeli hostages, Yotam Haim, Samer Talalka and Alon Shamriz “mistakenly fired and killed by IDF”. Photos: Courtesy of victims’ families via AP via Al Jazeera |
The unfortunate incident happened during fighting against Palestinian fighters known as Hamas on Friday 15 December, 2023.
“Their bodies were transferred to Israeli territory for examination where it was confirmed that they were 3 Israeli hostages”, the IDF disclosed, adding, they were identified as “Yotam Haim, Samer Talalka and Alon Shamriz”.
According to the IDF: “During combat in Shejaiya, the IDF mistakenly identified 3 Israeli hostages as a threat and as a result, fired toward them and the hostages were killed.
“Their bodies were transferred to Israeli territory for examination where it was confirmed that they were 3 Israeli hostages and were identified:
Yotam Haim, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza by the Hamas terrorist organization on October 7.
Samer Talalka, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Am by the Hamas terrorist organization on October 7.
The third hostages’ family has been notified and requested that his name will not be broadcasted.
IDF and Israel Police representatives have notified all of the families.
“The IDF began reviewing the incident immediately. The IDF emphasizes that 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 IDF expresses 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.
“The name of the third hostage mistakenly killed during the incident, was approved for publication by his family.
Alon Shamriz, kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza by the Hamas terrorist organization on October 7.”
