Radiance News Service
Dec. 16: According to a preliminary report from the IDF, three Israeli hostages who were shouting ‘Help’ in Hebrew, and had spraypainted ‘SOS’ and ‘Help, 3 Hostages’ nearby were killed in ‘friendly fire’ mistakenly.
The IDF has said the soldiers fired against protocol. The incident took place in Gaza’s Shejaya neighbourhood on Friday. The IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari announced that the IDF bears full responsibility for the “tragic incident,” which took place on Friday morning.
He added that the incident took place in an area with “suicide bombers” and “terrorists.”
However, with news emerging that the three men were bare-chested and carrying a white cloth on a stick as a makeshift white flag, people have questioned the IDF’s actions, with people on social media taking to argue that the military is trigger-happy and quick to shoot anything or anyone they think is Palestinian.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said in a statement: “Together with the entire people of Israel, I bow my head in deep sorrow and mourn the death of three of our dear sons who were kidnapped. My heart goes out to the grieving families in their difficult time.”
Netanyahu has already been under intense criticism from some of the families of the hostages who are angry with the government for not sustaining the hostage deal, even though Hamas was more than willing to work on one right from the early days of the hostilities.
The Mossad director has continued to reject calls to participate in new negotiations to free hostages, according to The Guardian.
According to a release by the IDF, the hostages were not wearing shirts and were waving a white flag on a stick, but two were killed immediately, while the third ran away “crying for help in Hebrew.” Though the battalion commander issued a ceasefire order, there was “another burst of fire” at the third hostage, which killed him.
According to another Israeli report, in light of the latest killings, Mossad chief David Barnea has met with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in an effort to find a new hostage deal. Qatar was a key mediator in the first hostage deal that saw 105 civilians released from Hamas captivity and 240 Palestinian prisoners, all women and minors, many of whom had spent years in Israeli prisons for no crime.
