Israeli captives mistakenly killed in Gaza held white flag, official says
Al Jazeera
Rules of engagement breached in incident that resulted in death of three hostages, all in their 20s.
Three Israeli hostages killed mistakenly in Gaza by Israeli forces were shirtless and one of them was holding up a white flag, according to an initial inquiry into the incident, a military official has said.
The incident took place in an area of intense combat where Hamas fighters operate in civilian attire and use deception tactics, the Israeli official said on Saturday.
A soldier saw the hostages emerging tens of metres from Israeli forces in the area of Shujayea, the official added.
“They’re all without shirts and they have a stick with a white cloth on it. The soldier feels threatened and opens fire. He declares that they’re terrorists, they [forces] open fire, two are killed immediately,” said the military official.
The third captive was wounded and retreated into a nearby building where he called for help in Hebrew.
