Israeli army mistakenly killed 3 hostages in December, covered it up: Media

JERUSALEM

Local media reported on Monday that the Israeli army mistakenly killed three captives, including two soldiers, during a raid on Gaza in December, an event that was not disclosed to the public.

According to Israel’s Channel 12, the three Israeli captives—Nik Beizer, Ron Sherman, and Elia Toledano—died in an Israeli airstrike aimed at a senior Hamas military leader in northern Gaza.

The report suggests the Israeli army was unaware of the captives' presence with the Hamas leader but has been aware of their deaths since February, opting not to make them public.

In mid-December, the army announced it had retrieved the bodies of three Israelis from a tunnel, who had originally been captured alive by Hamas on Oct. 7 of the previous year.

Addressing the report, Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari stated that investigations into the circumstances of the deaths are ongoing and that the findings will eventually be shared with the victims' families.

The army has acknowledged similar incidents involving the killing of Israeli captives during its extensive bombings throughout the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7. Israel estimates that over 100 hostages are still held by Hamas, with some believed to have already been killed.

The ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip has resulted in the deaths of nearly 41,100 Palestinians, predominantly women and children, and injured approximately 94,800 others, according to local health authorities. A persistent blockade has led to acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, leaving much of Gaza devastated.

Israel is currently facing genocide accusations related to its actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice.