Mother of Israeli hostage mistakenly gunned down by IDF tells soldiers who killed her son ‘I love you very much’ in stunning show of forgiveness

The mother of an Israeli hostage accidentally shot dead by the IDF told the soldiers who shot her son: “I love you very much and I hug you from afar.”

Yotam Haim, 28, was killed along with Alon Shamriz, 26, and Samer El-Talalka, 22, after escaping their captors and waving a white flag.

But Mr. Haim's mother, Iris, made an emotional vote for the battalion of troops, absolving them of blame and blaming the tragedy on Hamas.

She said, “I wanted to tell you that I love you very much and that I am hugging you from afar. I know that everything that happened is absolutely not your fault, it is no one's fault – except for Hamas, may their name and memory be wiped from the face of the earth.”

Ms. Haim urged soldiers from the Bislach Brigade, Battalion 17, to “stay safe” and said the Jewish people “need you.”

She said: 'Don't hesitate for a moment – if you see a terrorist, don't think you have deliberately killed a hostage, you must protect yourself because that is the only way you could protect us.

'We invite you to come and visit us as soon as possible, whoever wants to, we want to see you with our own eyes and hug you and tell you what you have done.

“As painful as it is to say, and as sad as it is, it was probably the right thing to do at the time, and none of us are judging you or being angry with you.

“Not me, not my husband Raviv, not my daughter Noya, not Yotam, blessed in memory, and not Tuval, brother of Yotam.”

The IDF is investigating the shooting after releasing a statement with full details, saying it violated their rules.

IDF spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari said: 'This is a tragic incident, the IDF bears responsibility. This is an area where the soldiers encountered many terrorists, including suicide bombers.”

The military's chief spokesman, Admiral Daniel Hagari, said Israeli forces found the hostages and wrongly identified them as a threat. He said it was not clear whether they had escaped their captors or been abandoned.

Two of the victims were initially named: Yotam, who was kidnapped by Hamas from kibbutz Kfar Aza, and Samer, who was kidnapped from kibbutz Nir Am on October 7.

The third victim who was accidentally killed was later identified as Alon, a computer engineering student born to Iranian parents.

The deaths occurred in the (northern) Gaza city area of ​​Shijaiyah, where troops have been engaged in heavy fighting against Hamas in recent days.

The Israeli military said it will “immediately assess the incident,” adding that “immediate lessons” had also been learned.

The force said its mission remains to “locate the missing and return all hostages home.”

Yotam's mother, Iris Haim, has been desperately trying to get her son home since he disappeared more than two months ago.

She spoke at a press conference last week at The Missing Families and Hostages Forum: thinking back to the last conversation she had with her son.

The terrified mother described the moment her son was taken by Hamas terrorists from a safe room where he had been hiding at 10.44am on October 7.

He told his mother that terrorists “shot at the house, shot at the door, shot at the safe room and set the house on fire.”

Their conversation started at 6:30 a.m., but became even more frantic after her son discovered that it was not a rocket attack, but a terror attack on his kibbutz.

A panicked Iris said her son, who suffers from mental and medical problems, was alone and 'scared'. She tried calling the police and the military, but couldn't get through.

Yotam's parents lived in a nearby moshav and his father desperately wanted to get his son, but he couldn't because of Hamas in the area.

“We couldn't help it,” she cried. “We knew we couldn't help as mothers and as fathers we were so helpless.”

She called his mother “mamou,” the endearing name her son started using after a mother-son trip to France. She started to cry as she remembered the last time they spoke before they lost all communication.

“Mamou, I hope I survive this,” Yotam said to his mother. 'I don't know if I'll survive, but I love you… ask for help… please… please… send someone please… I have no air… I can't breathe. '

A few weeks ago, when I spoke at another forum for those whose loved ones have been killed or kidnapped by Hamas. Iris begged for his son to be returned. “He needs to go back to his family… to us,” she said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement saying on Saturday that the military's killing of three hostages in Gaza in a case of mistaken identity was heartbreaking, but that “military pressure is necessary” to bring the other prisoners home.

'It broke my heart. It broke the heart of the entire nation,” he said of the deaths, adding: “With all the deep sorrow, I want to make it clear: the military pressure is necessary both for the return of the kidnapped and for achieving the victory over our enemies.”

News of their killing has sparked angry protests on the streets of Tel Aviv, with the families of the hostages held in Gaza calling on the government to strike an urgent deal to secure their release, fearing that their loved ones could be next.

“All we get over and over again is dead hostages,” said Noam Perry, daughter of hostage Haim Perry, at an event in Tel Aviv organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

“Our demand is not a fight (with the government). It's a call anyone would have made if it were their father. Take us along and come up with a plan (for negotiation) now.”

Scenes from Tel Aviv showed crowds of people, many of them the families of people kidnapped by Hamas, taking to the streets with banners to mourn and call for the return of Israelis trapped in Gaza.

Protesters held signs calling for an immediate hostage exchange, showed photos of loved ones who have now been missing for nearly 10 weeks, and saw an Israeli flag covered in red paint left outside the Defense Ministry.

Netanyahu appeared to confirm on Saturday that new negotiations were underway to retrieve Hamas hostages, after a source said the head of Israel's intelligence agency had met with the prime minister of Qatar, a country that mediates Israeli-Palestinian relations. conflict.

At a news conference, Netanyahu called the conflict an existential war that must be fought until victory despite pressure and costs, and said Gaza would be demilitarized and placed under Israeli security control.

He said Israel's offensive in Gaza helped broker an agreement on the partial release of hostages in November and vowed to exert intensive military pressure on Hamas, the terrorist group that controls Gaza and which he has vowed to destroy.

“The instruction I am giving to the negotiating team is based on this pressure, without which we have nothing,” he said.