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During combat operations in Shejaiya, a dense neighborhood in the Gaza City area where fighting has been taking place, the Israeli military said troops "mistakenly identified three Israeli hostages as a threat." Troops fired at the three and they were killed, the Israel Defense Forces said.
The Israeli military said the bodies have been returned to Israel and the identities of the three were confirmed.
Samer Talalka and Yotam Haim, who were both kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza during the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, were identified by the IDF as two of the hostages killed. The family of the third hostage killed requested that his name not be released.
This is unlikely to change much of anything, but it does represent a shift in the IDF releasing bad news more timely, as compared to responding to independent reports. Israeli public sentiment in favor of a strong military response to October 7th atrocities has been relatively consistent. At the same time, Netanyahu is expected to be removed once the conflict is over due to outrage over the security failures.
The Biden administration wants combat operations ended by the first week of January, while Israel is saying they expect to be done by the end of January.