Hi,
Three more hostages were killed yesterday. But unlike the 3 dead hostages, which their bodies had been rescued yesterday from Hamas hands, those hostages were killed by IDF friendly fire.
The accident raised again the question: Is the fighting helps to release the hostages (by rescuing them and putting pressure on Hamas to release them) or is it dangerous for them and reduce the chances they will come back alive. The families of the hostages protested yesterday and today, calling for the government to push Hamas to another hostage deal.
Unfortunately, this is not the first case of Israelis killed by friendly fire. During the military duty service, we have been introduced with many such cases: as case studies, so we will learn to avoid them when joining the fighting.
In one case, I remember clearly was one that 4 Golani soldiers were standing in the window of a house in Gaza without helmets on their heads. They were mistaken, identified as Hamas terrorists and were hit by a tank shell. Resulting in two dead and two two injured.
A famous friendly fire accident is of Yuval Kestelman zl on November 30th. During a terror attack in Jerusalem, he was mistakenly shot dead by an IDF soldier who killed the terrorists.
Above those cases there are the safety issues, such as safety distances from demolishing explotions, for example, or from firing granades, that not been kept leading to deaths of and injuries of soldiers from sharpanel and fragments of ammunition.
Take Care
Gad
The three hostages been killed yesterday from friendly fire: Yotam Haim zl, 28, from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Samer Fuad El-Talalka zl, 24, from Hura, (kidnapped from his workplace in Nir Am), and Alon Shamriz zl, 26, from Kfar Aza (Source: Haaretz.com)
Yuval Kestelman zl, who was killed in friendly fire of an IDF soldier during a terror attack in Jerusalem last month (Source: Facebook)