Iran Press/ Iran news: According to a senior officer in the Southern Command, citing an initial probe, the incident began after one soldier stationed in a building identified three suspicious figures exiting a building several dozen meters away.
All three were shirtless, with one of the figures carrying a stick with a makeshift white flag, according to the investigation.
The soldier, who believed the men moving toward him was an attempt by Hamas to lure IDF soldiers into a trap, immediately opened fire and shouted “terrorists!” to the other forces.
According to the probe, that soldier killed two of the men, while the third, who was hit and wounded, fled back into the building from which he came.
At that stage, the commander of the battalion, who was also in the building where the soldier shot from, went outside and called on the forces to halt their fire.
Meanwhile, sounds of someone shouting “Help” in Hebrew were heard by the troops in the area.
Moments later, the third man came out of the building to which he fled, and another soldier opened fire at him, killing him.
The battalion commander then realized that the appearance of the third man was unusual, and it was revealed to be an Israeli hostage. All three bodies were collected and taken to Israel to be identified.
The soldier who immediately opened fire upon identifying the three men did so against protocols, as did the second soldier who killed the third man, according to the officer.
Still, the IDF said it understands what led the soldiers to do so.
In Shejaiya, the senior officer says the Israel Military has not identified any Palestinian civilians in recent days.
The officer says troops have killed at least 38 Palestinians in Shejaiya in recent days.
There have also been several attempts by Hamas in the area to lure soldiers into an ambush.
On Wednesday, in what was initially thought to be unrelated to yesterday’s deadly mistaken shooting, the officer says that several hundred meters away the troops found a building with spray paint on the wall reading “SOS” and another sign reading “Help, three hostages.”
The soldiers at the time believed the building was booby-trapped, but now the military is investigating a possible connection to yesterday’s incident.
Immediately following the incident, the Israel Military sent new protocols to ground troops for the possibility of more hostages managing to flee captivity.
The scenario itself, of hostages walking around in a battle zone, was never taken into account by the Israeli military.
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