Three hostages mistakenly killed by Israeli troops ‘were holding up white flag’

Protesters march through the streets after demonstrating outside the Israel Defense Force headquarters (Picture: Getty)

Three hostages mistakenly killed by Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip were shirtless and had been holding up a white flag, a military official has said.

Yotam Haim, 28, Samer Talalka, 22, and Alon Shamriz, 26 were shot dead by Israeli Defence Forces troops who mistook them as ‘terorrists’ after escaping Hamas captivity on Friday.

The military official, speaking anonymously, said a soldier saw them emerging close to IDF troops in Shejaiya, an area of intense combat where Hamas militants operate in civilian attire and use deception tactics.

‘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 (the Israeli forces) open fire. Two (hostages) are killed immediately,’ he went on.

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,’ he added.

‘This was against our rules of engagement.’

Samer Al-Talalka (left), Alon Shamriz (centre), and Yotam Haim (right) (Pictures: Reuters)

The IDF said its forces accidentally killed three hostages being held in Gaza when it mistakenly identified them as potential threats (Picture: Getty)

IDF spokesman Lt Col Richard Hecht told the BBC the killings was ‘a tragic, tragic, tragic event’.

Speaking to the Newshour programme, he said ‘mistakes happen in this kind of conflict’ and the soldiers involved would not be punished.

‘These are our hostages, these are our soldiers,’ he said. ‘First of all we’ll be giving help to these soldiers. They’re not going to be punished – they made a mistake, they made a mistake.’

Anger over the killings is likely to increase pressure on the Israeli government to renew Qatar-mediated negotiations with Hamas over swapping more Palestinians prisoners.

The account of how the hostages died also raised questions about the conduct of Israeli ground troops. Palestinians have reported that Israeli soldiers opened fire as civilians tried to flee to safety.

Protesters march through the streets near a clock displaying 69 days in captivity (Picture: Getty)

Israeli media gave a more detailed account of what took place.

The mass circulation daily Yediot Ahronot said Saturday that according to an investigation, a sniper identified the three hostages as suspects when they emerged from the building, despite them not being armed, and shot two of the three.

Soldiers followed the third when he ran into the building and hid, shouting at him to come out and at least one soldier shot him when he emerged from a staircase, the newspaper reports.

Haaretz gave a similar account based on a preliminary investigation, saying the soldiers who followed the third hostage into the building believed he was a Hamas member trying to pull them into a trap.

A man walks past portraits of Israeli hostages (Picture: AFP via Getty)

Israeli political and military leaders often say freeing all the hostages is their top aim in the war alongside destroying Hamas.

But they argue that their release can only be achieved through military pressure on Hamas, a claim that has sharply divided Israeli public opinion.

The news on Friday prompted a late-night protest outside Israel’s defence headquarters in Tel Aviv, where hostage families were expected to deliver a statement later on Saturday.

One father said each day left families guessing whether they will be next to receive bad news.

‘We’re in a kind of Russian roulette,’ Ruby Chen, whose son Itay is captive in Gaza, told reporters as he held up an hour glass.

‘Israel’s government needs to get a grip and bring back the hostages.’

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