From CNN's Tamar Michaelis and Michael Rios
Israel’s military did not have intelligence about the three hostages mistakenly killed by its soldiers Friday, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari told a news conference Saturday.
Hagari reiterated the Israel Defense Forces assumed the three hostages had either escaped or been abandoned by their captors due to the fighting in Shejaiya.
He added that soldiers in general thought they would find hostages either in a building, in a tunnel, or handcuffed, and didn’t anticipate that they would be approached.
“This is a mistake and a malfunction,” he said.
Hagari said the military has published details of its preliminary review of the incident. Those findings have been relayed to combat troops in Gaza as well as the families of the three hostages killed.
CNN is working to obtain a copy of the initial review.
“We will continue to investigate this incident thoroughly,” he said. “We are in the midst of a war that presents us with very difficult and complex situations with unprecedented characteristics that we have not faced until now.”
