Israeli soldiers ignored cries for “help” when they stormed a Gaza building holding three hostages just days before killing them by mistake, said a military investigation published on Thursday.

The soldiers also heard “hostages” shouted in Hebrew on December 10, but interpreted that as a “terrorist deception attempt” by Hamas operatives to lure them into the building in the Gaza City district of Shejaiya, the probe said.

Believing the building was rigged with explosives, the soldiers exited and killed five Hamas operatives trying to escape, it added.

The hostages then probably fled the building also, and on December 15 Israeli soldiers shot them after mistakenly identifying them as a threat, the investigation said.

Two were killed instantly. The third hostage fled and soldiers were ordered to hold fire in order to identify him, the probe said.

Hearing cries of “help!” and “they’re shooting at me”, Israeli commanders asked the surviving hostage to advance towards the soldiers.

But two soldiers “who did not hear the order” because of “noise” from a nearby tank shot him dead.

The three hostages were all shirtless and one had been carrying a white flag.

On December 14, an army drone had identified signs of “SOS” and “help, three hostages” on a building close to where the three hostages were shot.

The army “failed in its mission to rescue the hostages in this event,” army chief Herzi Halevi said in a statement published along with the report of the investigation.

The three fatalities “could have been prevented”, he added.

Soon after the killings of the hostages were announced, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it “broke my heart” and “broke the whole nation’s heart”.

Israel has been mourning the deaths of the hostages identified as Yotam Haim, Alon Shamriz and Samer El-Talalqa.

The killings of the three men, all in their twenties, have sparked protests in Tel Aviv, where demonstrators demanded that the authorities come up with a new plan to bring home the remaining 129 hostages still held in the Gaza Strip.

About 250 people were taken hostage during Hamas’s October 7 attacks in Israel, which resulted in the deaths of around 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

Vowing to destroy Hamas and bring back the hostages, Israel launched a massive military offensive against the Palestinian Islamist movement that has left much of Gaza in ruins.

The territory’s Hamas government says the war has killed at least 21,320 people, mostly women and children.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has apologised for the incorrect translation of a ‘shloka’ from the Bhagavad Gita which had created a row. Mr Sarma’s post on X had landed him in the crosshairs of the Opposition with several leaders accusing him of promoting caste divisions.

In his apology, Mr Sarma said that the verse had been posted on his X account by his team to keep up his tradition of sharing one Gita ‘shloka’ daily with his followers.  

“As a routine I upload one sloka of Bhagavad Gita every morning on my social media handles. Till date, I have posted 668 slokas. Recently one of my team members posted a sloka from Chapter 18 verse 44 with an incorrect translation,” Mr Sarma said on Thursday.

The BJP leader said he deleted the tweet as soon as he noticed the mistake.

“As soon as I noticed the mistake, I promptly deleted the post. If the deleted post has offended anyone, I sincerely apologize,” he said.

As a routine I upload one sloka of Bhagavad Gita every morning on my social media handles. Till date, I have posted 668 slokas.

Recently one of my team members posted a sloka from Chapter 18 verse 44 with an incorrect translation.

As soon as I noticed the mistake, I promptly…

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) December 28, 2023

The post which sparked a political row had incorrectly said that according to the Gita, it is the duty of the Shudras to serve the other three castes – Brahmins, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader and Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi had launched a sharp attack on Mr Sarma saying that he was not fulfilling his oath of treating every Indian citizen equally.

“In a recently deleted post, Assam CM elaborated on his vision of society.  “…farming, cow rearing, and commerce are natural duties of the Vaishya and serving the Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas is the natural duty of the Shudras.” Holding a constitutional position, your oath is to treat every citizen equally. It’s reflected in the unfortunate cruelty that Assam’s Muslims have faced in the past few years. Hindutva is antithetical to Liberty, Equality, Fraternity and Justice,” Mr Owaisi said on X (formerly Twitter).

In a recently deleted post, Assam CM elaborated on his vision of society. “…farming, cow rearing, and commerce are natural duties of the Vaishya and serving the Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas is the natural duty of the Shudras.”

Holding a constitutional position, your oath…

— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) December 28, 2023

Himanta Sarma in his apology post also said that Assam was the picture of a casteless society and the incorrect translation was a mistake.

The wife of a revenue official has filed a police complaint alleging that her husband, Ashish Gupta, converted to Islam, changed his name to Mohammad Yusuf, and married a Muslim woman in the southern Uttar Pradesh town of Maudaha.

The saga began on September 2 when Ashish Gupta assumed his role as Naib Tehsildar in Maudaha. For days, an unfamiliar figure was seen at the town’s Kachariya Baba Masjid, ardently participating in namaz. The town’s curiosity piqued, an inquiry ensued, revealing the man’s identity as Mohammad Yusuf, a self-proclaimed resident of Kanpur.

However, further probe by the people revealed that Mr Yusuf was none other than the Naib Tehsildar Ashish Gupta himself. Anticipating potential fallouts of the bizarre situation, the mosque’s cleric alerted the police.

A fresh twist emerged with the entry of Mr Gupta’s wife – Aarti Yagyasaini – who filed a case of forced religious conversion and ‘immoral’ marriage of her husband to a woman named Rukshaar. The complaint implicated individuals with unknown identities, adding a new layer of mystery to the story.

Ms Yagyasaini’s police complaint claims Rukhsaar’s father, identified as Munna, along with a cleric from the mosque and several others, orchestrated the conversion on December 24, before the alleged forced wedding.

It remains unclear whether Mr Gupta was forcibly converted to Islam or if he did it on his own accord to legitimise an affair with Rukshaar. All angles are being probed, the police said.