Israeli forum mourns death of hostages accidently killed by IDF

Tel Aviv, Dec 16 (IANS) The Israeli Hostages and Missing Families Forum expressed grief and mourned the death of three hostages who were killed accidentally by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in northern Gaza.

In a statement, the Forum said that it shared the profound grief of the families of the three victims identified as Yotam Haim and Alon Shimriz, who were kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7, and Samer Talalka, who was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Am on the same day.

Samer (25) lived in the town of Hura and worked with his father and brothers at a chicken hatchery near Kibbutz Nir Am. He was the eldest of 10 children and an avid motorcyclist who loved to ride around the countryside and spend time with friends.

On October 7 when the Hamas launched the attack, he was with his father at the chicken hatchery and told his sister in a phone call that he had been injured by gunfire, until the call disconnected.

The Forum said that since then attempts were being made to secure his release and in the midst of these attempts, tragedy struck.

“We share in the profound grief of the Haim family. Yotam Haim was 28 years old when he was mistakenly killed. Yotam lived in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. He had long, ginger hair and beautiful blue eyes that you could get lost in," it said in the statement, adding that Yotam was a gifted musician and dedicated metal music fan who idolised the band Megadeth.

He had played the drums for 20 years and was part of the band Persephore, with whom he was supposed to perform at a Metal Music Festival in Tel Aviv on October 7.

When the war erupted in the early hours of October 7, Yotam spoke with his family and told them his house had burned down. He was abducted shortly after.

According to the Forum, Yotam loved to cook Italian food and even taught himself Italian. In his free time, he liked to work out at the CrossFit gym in Sderot.

Yotam was an avid animal lover and raised dogs and cats at home. He loved his mother deeply, used to imitate her, and called her “Mamo”. Yotam left behind two parents, a brother, and a sister.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum also mourned the death of Alon Shamriz from Kfar Aza who was also shot dead by IDF in a case of mistaken identity.