Hostages were waving white flag when troops shot them dead, says Israeli army

Left to right, Alon Shamriz, Samer Al-Talalka and Yotam Haim were shot dead by Israeli soldiers (Courtesy of the Shamriz, Al-Talalka and Haim families via AP)

The Israeli hostages who were mistakenly shot by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip had been waving a white flag and were shirtless when they were killed, an Israeli military official said on Saturday.

Anger over the mistaken killings is likely to increase pressure on the Israeli government to renew Qatar-mediated negotiations with Hamas over swapping more captives for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.