By Zein Khalil
JERUSALEM (AA) – The Israeli army on Saturday declared its soldiers guilty of the killings of three Israeli hostages in Gaza who were held by Hamas following preliminary investigations, citing them for acting outside the rules of engagement.
This is not the first time the Israeli army has admitted that its soldiers were responsible for mistaken attacks that killed troops in what it calls "friendly fire." The army admitted earlier this week that 20 soldiers had been killed in "friendly fire" in the Gaza Strip since the start of the ground operation in the narrow enclave at the end of October.
Regarding the killings of Yotam Haim and Samer Talalka, the two identified by Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari in his statement on Friday, without revealing the identity of the third at the request of the deceased's family, the Saturday announcement held the soldiers responsible for their killings in the Shuja'iya neighborhood east of Gaza City.
The Israeli army released details of the investigation through various media outlets, including the official broadcasting authority and Israeli Army Radio, which Anadolu has seen.
According to the investigation details released by the army, "the three detainees exited a building tens of meters away from the Israeli forces present in the area, with one of them carrying a white flag."
The hostages approached Israeli forces while shouting for help in Hebrew, and an Israeli sniper killed two of them, while the third fled to a nearby building. The sniper shouted, "Terrorist."
"An Israeli force began to advance towards the building, hearing the detainee inside crying for help in Hebrew (save me). The leader of the force asked him to come out at that point, but as soon as he did, an Israeli soldier opened fire on him from close range, killing him," according to the investigation
Earlier on Tuesday, the Israeli army stated that 20 soldiers had been killed in "friendly fire" in the Gaza Strip since the ground operation began at the end of October.
Out of 105 Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza since the ground operation started on Oct. 27, 20 were killed in friendly fire, making one-fifth of the deaths, the Israeli Army Radio cited a statement by the military as saying.
Israel has bombarded the Gaza Strip from the air and land, imposed a siege, and mounted a ground offensive in retaliation for a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.
At least 18,800 Palestinians have since been killed and 51,000 injured in the Israeli onslaught, according to Gaza’s health authorities.
The Israeli death toll in the Hamas attack stands at 1,200, while more than 130 hostages are still held by the Palestinian group in Gaza, according to official figures.
* Writing by Rania Abu Shamala