Israel-Palestine war: Father of hostage says his son was 'executed' by Israeli army
The father of one of the captives, who was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza despite holding a white flag, has called his death an "execution" by the army.
Alon Shamriz was among three men targeted after exiting a building in the Shujaiya neighbourhood east of Gaza City where heavy combat has been taking place.
Even though the men were shirtless and held a stick with white fabric attached to it, a soldier positioned at the upper floor of a nearby building felt threatened and opened fire at them, according to the preliminary investigation conducted on Saturday.
Two of the men died immediately, and the third was wounded and escaped back into the building.
Avi Shamriz, Alon Shamriz's father, demanded to see footage of the incident during an interview on Friday with Army Radio.
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He said Alon, along with the two other captives, did "everything right" to avoid being killed.
"They... took their shirts off, hung a white flag and marched in broad daylight in the middle of the street and shouted for help, but in our army, they don't know how to follow the rules of engagement," Avi said.
"Even if it's a terrorist, why shoot him like that? He was naked and unarmed, and even if it's a terrorist - why not shoot him in the legs? This is against all the rules taught by the IDF."
'Abandoned' and 'murdered'
Other family members have been scathing about the Israeli army's actions.
Speaking at the funeral, Ido, Shamriz's brother, said the army had "abandoned" and "murdered" Alon.
"Those who abandoned you also murdered you after all that you did right," he said at the gathering, which was attended by dozens of relatives.
Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesperson, expressed "deep remorse over the tragic incident" on Friday and said "immediate lessons from the event had been learned".
The captives have been identified as Alon Shamriz, 26, Samer Fuad El-Talalka, 24, and Yotam Haim, 28. Haim and Shamriz were taken from Kibbutz Kfar Aza and Talalka was taken from Hura.
The Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October resulted in the deaths of over 1,200 people. Around 240 people were taken back to Gaza as captives during the attack. More than 100 of them were released in a prisoner swap deal last month, but some 130 remain held in Gaza.
The Israeli military has killed nearly 19,000 Palestinians in attacks since then, most of them children and women.
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