Israel 'mistakenly' killed 3 captives in Gaza in December but did not tell public

The Israeli army in December killed three captives in Gaza by mistake and kept this information hidden from the public, local Israeli media said Monday.

The three captives – among the roughly 250 taken by Hamas and other Palestinian groups during the October 7 attack in southern Israel – were killed in an airstrike that allegedly targeted a senior military leader of Hamas in the enclave’s north, Israel’s Channel 12 reported.

Israeli media reports named the three deceased captives as Elia Toledano, Nik Beizer, and Ron Sherman.

The military was unaware of the presence of captives present with the Hamas senior, according to Channel 12.

The Israeli army acknowledged it had killed the three following the Channel 12 report, however rejected that it had attempted a coverup.

But even after finding out of their deaths in February, the Israeli military chose to keep this information concealed.

In January, the mother of Sherman took to Facebook to accuse Israel's government of killing her son, who was taken captive by Hamas on 7 October.

"Ron was indeed murdered... but not by Hamas," Mayaan, Ron's mother, wrote on Facebook on January 16, according to Israel's +972 Magazine. Writing after seeing the findings of a pathology report provided by the army, the bereaved mother said her son was killed by "bombings with poisonous gases".

Speaking later to +972 and Local Call, she said that the army "doesn't rule out" gas poisoning as a cause of death. Ron Sherman's body was recovered by the army in mid-December.

In another incident, a December investigation revealed that Israeli soldiers ignored cries for "help" when they stormed a Gaza building holding three hostages just days before killing them by mistake.

Tel Aviv estimates that there are over 100 captives still being held in Gaza. Some are believed to be dead.

Meditation efforts for a ceasefire deal that could see these captives swapped for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention are yet to yield results.

Israel’s nearly year-long war on Gaza has left around 41,000 people killed, mostly women and children, with some 10,000 others missing presumed dead. Much of the besieged territory has been laid to ruins and nearly all its population displaced.