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 IDF said that the hostages had been holding up a white cloth on a stick. The hostages were fired upon against Israel’s rules of engagement, an IDF official said.
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.
The trio were among an estimated 240 people taken hostage during Hamas’s October 7 raids into Israel, which also killed an estimated 1,200 people.
The 17-year-old had been released from prison the night before, nearly five months after being arrested in a 4am Israeli military raid on the home.
Yazen had been held under “administrative detention” – a longstanding security policy, inherited from the British, that allows the Israeli state to imprison people indefinitely without charge, and without presenting any evidence against them.
“They have a secret file,” Yazen said. “They don’t tell you what’s in it.”
He was back at home because he was among the 180 Palestinian children and women released from prison by Israel in the recent exchange for hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
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