The Israeli military has “mistakenly” shot and killed three of the regime’s captives in the north of the besieged Gaza Strip after misidentifying them as what it claimed to be threats.
Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the Israeli military, claimed in a statement on Friday that the three captives, who had been held by the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas since early October, were “mistakenly” killed by friendly fire in the Gaza neighborhood of Shejaiya.
“During combat in Shejaiya, the Israel forces mistakenly identified three Israeli hostages as a threat. As a result, the troops fired toward them and they were killed,” Hagari said in the statement.
“During searches and checks in the area in which the incident occurred, a suspicion arose over the identities of the deceased,” he added.
“Their bodies were transferred…for examination, after which it was confirmed that they were three Israeli hostages.”
Stressing that the military was “reviewing” the circumstances around the fatal shooting, Hagari said the occupation forces believe the three men either escaped their prisoners or had been “left behind” due to the latest fierce fighting in the area.
The statement by the Israeli military identified the three captives as Yotam Haim, Alon Shimriz and Samer Talalka.
Earlier in the day, the Israeli regime announced that there are 132 captives in Gaza since the occupying entity launched a brutal onslaught on the besieged Palestinian territory, of whom 112 are said to be still alive.
More than 100 captives were released by Hamas last month after a temporary Qatari-brokered truce saw the release of 240 Palestinian prisoners from the Israeli jails.
The ceasefire also allowed the delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza after weeks of Israeli aggression plunged the besieged territory into a humanitarian catastrophe.
Hamas said at the weekend that the Palestinian resistance movement would never give in to the pressure of incessant Israeli attacks on Gaza to release the rest of the Israeli captives until the barbaric aggression stopped.
Hamas underlined that the only way for the group to release Israeli captives alive is for the Israelis and their supporters to accept its demands, including the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas-led Palestinian resistance groups waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.
Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed some 19,000 Palestinians and injured more than 50,000 others.
Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under the rubble in Gaza, which is under “complete siege” by Israel.
