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Israeli Troops Mistakenly Kill Three Hostages During Fierce Gaza Fighting, Military Says
Israeli soldiers operate at the Shajaiya district of Gaza city amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terror group Hamas, in the Gaza Strip, Dec. 8, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Yossi Zeliger
Israeli soldiers mistakenly killed three hostages being held in Gaza by the Hamas terror group during combat, according to a military spokesman.
“This is an area where the soldiers encountered many terrorists, including suicide bombers,” said Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). He called the incident a “tragic accident.”
The battle took place in the northern Gaza Strip village of Shejaiya, known as a Hamas stronghold.
Military officials have notified all affected families.
The IDF identified two of the hostages as Yotam Haim, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, and Samer Talalka, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Am. The third hostage was not named at the family’s request.
All three were kidnapped during Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre, when the Palestinian terror group invaded and rampaged across southern Israel, murdering 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 240 hostages.
According to the IDF, Israeli troops mistakenly identified the hostages as a threat and opened fire at them, killing all three.
“After the shooting, during a scan and examination, an immediate suspicion arose regarding the identity of the dead, and their bodies were quickly transferred for examination in Israel, where the hostages were identified,” Hagari said in a statement. “This is a sad and painful event for all of us, and the IDF bears responsibility for everything that happened.”
He noted that shortly after the incident, Israeli forces encountered terrorists nearby, adding that Hamas has tried to lure the IDF into ambushes.
Israel has recently engaged in intense battles with Hamas terrorists, who often wear civilian clothing. Hagari said the military is working to “gather the facts and clarify the details of the incident.”
Asked how the three hostages were able to escape Hamas captivity, Hagari said the military believed they “fled or were abandoned by the terrorists who held them captive.”
Israel said it began reviewing the incident immediately after it happened.
“The IDF emphasizes that this is an active combat zone in which ongoing fighting over the last few days has occurred,” the military posted on X/Twitter. “Immediate lessons from the event have been learned, which have been passed on to all IDF troops in the field. The IDF expresses deep remorse over the tragic incident and sends the families its heartfelt condolences. Our national mission is to locate the missing and return all the hostages home.”
More than 100 hostages still remain in Gaza after Hamas released dozens of women, children, and foreigners as part of a temporary ceasefire deal. Some of those in captivity have been declared dead in absentia by Israeli authorities.
Earlier on Friday, the Israeli military said it had recovered the bodies of three Israelis — a civilian and two soldiers — who had been kidnapped by Hamas terrorists and held in Gaza.
The post Israeli Troops Mistakenly Kill Three Hostages During Fierce Gaza Fighting, Military Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Kurdish-led SDF Say Five Members Killed During Attack by Islamic State in Syria
Islamic State slogans painted along the walls of the tunnel was used by Islamic State militants as an underground training camp in the hillside overlooking Mosul, Iraq, March 4, 2017. Photo: via Reuters Connect.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said on Sunday that five of its members had been killed during an attack by Islamic State militants on a checkpoint in eastern Syria’s Deir el-Zor on July 31.
The SDF was the main fighting force allied to the United States in Syria during fighting that defeated Islamic State in 2019 after the group declared a caliphate across swathes of Syria and Iraq.
The Islamic State has been trying to stage a comeback in the Middle East, the West and Asia. Deir el-Zor city was captured by Islamic State in 2014, but the Syrian army retook it in 2017.
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Armed Groups Attack Security Force Personnel in Syria’s Sweida, Killing One, State TV Reports
People ride a motorcycle past a burned-out military vehicle, following deadly clashes between Druze fighters, Sunni Bedouin tribes, and government forces, in Syria’s predominantly Druze city of Sweida, Syria, July 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Armed groups attacked personnel from Syria’s internal security forces in Sweida, killing one member and wounding others, and fired shells at several villages in the violence-hit southern province, state-run Ekhbariya TV reported on Sunday.
The report cited a security source as saying the armed groups had violated the ceasefire agreed in the predominantly Druze region, where factional bloodshed killed hundreds of people last month.
Violence in Sweida erupted on July 13 between tribal fighters and Druze factions. Government forces were sent to quell the fighting, but the bloodshed worsened, and Israel carried out strikes on Syrian troops in the name of the Druze.
The Druze are a minority offshoot of Islam with followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Sweida province is predominantly Druze but is also home to Sunni tribes, and the communities have had long-standing tensions over land and other resources.
A US-brokered truce ended the fighting, which had raged in Sweida city and surrounding towns for nearly a week. Syria said it would investigate the clashes, setting up a committee to investigate the attacks.
The Sweida bloodshed last month was a major test for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, after a wave of sectarian violence in March that killed hundreds of Alawite citizens in the coastal region.
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Netanyahu Urges Red Cross to Aid Gaza Hostages
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference, in Jerusalem, May 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/Pool
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he spoke with the International Red Cross’s regional head, Julien Lerisson, and requested his involvement in providing food and medical care to hostages held in Gaza.