Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Friday, December 15, 2023
From the Liveblog of
Friday, December 15, 2023
Rahat mayor mourns hostages mistakenly killed by IDF: ‘Bedouins and Jews abducted together and managed to flee together’
Hostages Yotam Haim (L) and Samar Talalka, who were killed mistakenly by IDF troops in Gaza on December 15, 2023. A third hostage killed in the same incident was not immediately named, at the request of the family. (Courtesy)
The mayor of the Bedouin town of Rahat mourns the mistaken killing of three hostages by IDF troops earlier today in Gaza.
The IDF has identified two of the hostages as Yotam Haim and Samar Talalka, who was a resident of Rahat.
“Such bitter news: Bedouins and Jews were taken hostage together, managed to flee together in an effort to continue their lives — and ended their lives together in this very tragic event,” Ata Abu Madighem tells Army Radio.
Initial assessments from the IDF say Haim, Talalka and a third hostage whose family requested that he not be identified managed to either flee from captivity or were abandoned by their captors amid the intensity of the IDF firefight in northern Gaza.
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