Watan-A heated confrontation erupted between British anchorwoman Sangita Myska and Israeli government spokesperson Elon Levy due to the Israeli army’s killing of three Israeli detainees inside the Gaza Strip.
The British anchorwoman said, “What happened leads me to wonder… in other cases, those who were shot are not actually Israeli hostages, but they are actually Palestinians. Has the Israeli army’s policy so far been to shoot civilians, and it is clear that they are Palestinian civilians because they are Palestinians?”
Israeli government spokesperson Elon Levy responded, “Such incidents clearly represent a violation of the rules of engagement… Our forces have a very clear mission, which is to distinguish between civilians and fighters, and Hamas is trying to make it as difficult as possible.”
However, the British anchorwoman interrupted him, saying, “Not in this case… there was an exchange of fire, and the Israeli army said this. After the exchange of fire, these three men were left. So just answer my question, were they shot because the Israeli army thought they were Palestinian civilians? Is that what happened?”
The Israeli government spokesperson responded, saying that the Israeli army is investigating the incident and added, “I cannot comment… it is clear that this was a terrible mistake.
The killing of three Israeli captives by the Israeli army
The Israeli army had stated that during the fighting in the Shuja’iya neighborhood, the army mistakenly identified three Israeli captives as a threat. Consequently, the soldiers opened fire on them, resulting in their deaths.
The army stated that Yotam Haim, Alon Shemeriz, and Samer Altalqah were killed, all in their twenties.
Preliminary investigation into the killing of the three captives
In a related context, an investigation by the Israeli army into the killing of the three Israeli captives revealed that the victims were waving white flags, and one of them was pleading for help in Hebrew, saying, “Save us.”
Despite this, the Israeli forces opened fire on them contrary to the instructions to refrain from firing, out of fear.