The IDF announced that it will form a committee to discuss the topic of recognizing hostages killed during the war as fallen soldiers, among other unique situations, on Tuesday.
The establishment of the committee comes following the accidental killing of Alon Shamriz, Yotam Haim, and Samer Talalka after they survived for many weeks in the captivity of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. After the incident, the family of Alon Shamriz appealed for him to be recognized as a fallen soldier, but the request was refused.
Unique situations and complex decisions
The IDF stated that Operation Swords of Iron presented the State of Israel with complex and painful issues, among them the issue of bereavement, memory, and heroism.”
The Chief of Staff, Maj.-Gen. Herzi Halevi discussed the appeals received by the IDF on the issue and stated that a committee will be established to examine the manner of recognizing and honoring civilians and abductees who participated in combat or unique situations.
The committee will be convened when the operational situation allows it, together with representatives of the Defense Ministry.
According to Chief of Staff Halevi’s statement, “This is a difficult event with very difficult results. The IDF failed in the mission of rescuing the abductees in this incident. The entire chain of command feels responsible for the difficult incident, grieves over this outcome, and shares in the grief of the three families of the abductees.”
The chief stated that the harm to the abductees could have been prevented. At the same time, he clarified that there was no malice in the incident, and the fighters performed the correct action to the best of their understanding of the incident at that moment.”
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