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The chief of Israel’s defense forces has accepted responsibility for the accidental killing of three hostages attempting to escape captivity in Gaza, vowing steps to ensure no repeat of the tragic incident but also noting the difficulties soldiers face in Gaza’s “complex” urban battlefields.
Yotam Haim, Samar Talalka and Alon Lulu Shamriz were killed as they attempted to approach a group of soldiers in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood while waving a white cloth and yelling for help in Hebrew. The trio had escaped their Hamas abductors, but soldiers feared they were an attempt to lure troops into a trap and opened fire, killing them before realizing the mistake, according to an initial Israel Defense Forces probe.
In a video statement, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi called the slayings “a difficult and painful event.”
Tel Aviv. December 16, 2023. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)
Israel’s defense chiefs said they accepted responsibility for the accidental killing of three hostages attempting to escape captivity in Gaza, vowing steps to ensure no repeat of the tragic incident but also noting the difficulties soldiers face in Gaza’s “complex” urban battlefields.
Yotam Haim, Samar Talalka and Alon Lulu Shamriz were killed as they attempted to approach a group of soldiers in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood while waving a white cloth and yelling for help in Hebrew. The trio had escaped their Hamas abductors, but soldiers feared they were an attempt to lure troops into a trap and opened fire, killing them before realizing the mistake, according to an initial Israel Defense Forces probe.
In a video statement, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi called the slayings “a difficult and painful event.
“The IDF, and I as its commander, are responsible for what happened, and we will do everything to prevent the recurrence of such cases in the continuation of the fighting,” he said.