In mid-December, Israeli soldiers accidentally shot three hostages kidnapped by Hamas. The army has now submitted an investigation report. Accordingly, orders were lost in the noise and calls for help were mistaken for deception.
Following the accidental killing of three hostages in northern Gaza by Israeli soldiers two weeks ago, the military has completed an investigation and published findings. A complex battlefield situation, poor visibility and the noise of tanks in the area, which prevented soldiers from hearing orders from their commander, played a role in the tragic incident on December 15, the report said.
According to the Army, a soldier initially shot “at three figures identified as a threat,” killing two of them. He only had limited visibility. The third person then fled into a building.
After around 15 minutes, the Israeli commander in charge heard cries for help in Hebrew and asked the man to get out of the building and towards the soldiers. However, two soldiers did not hear the order to cease fire because of the noise from a tank nearby. According to the army, the soldiers therefore shot at the man and killed him.
Relatives and friends at the funeral of one of the three Israeli hostages who were mistakenly killed by fire from Israeli soldiers.
Cries for help in Hebrew
Soldiers had previously interpreted cries for help and written cries for help from the three hostages in Hebrew as attempts by Hamas to lure them into booby-trapped ambushes. The soldiers involved had experienced such attempts at deception before.
The army confirmed previous reports that the three young men came out of the building shirtless and carrying a white flag to show they posed no threat.
Deaths “could have been prevented”
The three young men killed were among more than 240 people taken hostage and kidnapped to the Gaza Strip by Hamas in its terrorist attack on Israel on October 7.
Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said the army had failed to rescue the hostages in this case. The three fatalities “could have been prevented.” However, there was no premeditation in the incident. The soldiers acted “according to their best judgment.” Shortly after the incident became known, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the killing of the three hostages had broken “the heart of the entire nation.”