Three Israeli hostages mistakenly killed by the IDF had been holding a white flag, an Israeli military official has said.

The official said an initial inquiry into the incident has found the hostages were fired upon against Israel’s rules of engagement.

The IDF said yesterday that the victims – all Israeli men in their 20s – were killed during combat with Hamas militants.

They had wrongly been identified as a threat, the military said previously.

The victims were identified as Samer Talalka, 22, Yotam Haim, 28, and Alon Shamriz, 26.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called their deaths an “unbearable tragedy” and vowed to continue “with a supreme effort to return all the hostages home safely”.

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