Hundreds of people took part in the funeral of Samer al-Talalka, one of the three hostages who were killed by IDF gunfire during the fighting in Shujaiyeh. The funeral took place on Saturday, in the Sakati cemetery, located in the Negev.

The funeral of Samer al-Talalka, an Israeli hostage who was mistakenly killed by IDF in Gaza, SaturdayCredit: Eliyahu Hershkovitz

Al-Talalka, who was 24, was from Hura. He was kidnapped on October 7 from the hen house at Kibbutz Nir Am, where he was working. He was the oldest of four brothers and was scheduled to be married next summer.

Samer’s father, Lutfi al-Talalka, said that he blames both Israel and Hamas for his son’s death. “From here we say that the army must release the hostages immediately, and draw lessons from what happened. Samer was supposed to be with us,” said the father.

Samer’s father, Lufti, on the left. His son was buried on Saturday.

Basem al-Talalka, a relative of Samer, said that Lutfi has been working at the hen house for years, with Samer replacing him on weekends.

During the period he was in captivity, Amer said, the family understood that Samer was alive. “When he was kidnapped, social media carried a video in which he was seen alive, surrounded by Hamas fighters. When the Thai hostages who worked with him returned, they said he was alive, and the family was hopeful,” explained Amer.

The funeral of Samer al-Talalka, an Israeli hostage who was mistakenly killed by IDF in Gaza, Saturday

“He could have returned alive. I’m sure there was no intent to kill him, but they should have used better judgement,” added Amer. “We didn’t expect him to be killed by our own forces. This is a very grave incident; it’s not that he was murdered during the massacre; he survived for 70 days, and that wasn’t easy. I’m sure he was also hoping to return home.”

Habes al-Ataouna, the head of the Hura local council, criticized the army’s conduct. “It pains us that it ended this way, after we had received some hope that Samer was alive. People who returned from captivity testified that Samer was alive; he helped them translate from Arabic to Hebrew. Apparently, the army kills anything that moves in Gaza, which is why they didn’t stop to identify the hostages. A tragedy has befallen Hura, we are all in mourning.”

A friend of the al-Talalka family eulogized Samer. “He was a good person. A regular guy who was interested in working, in making a living and going home. When he was on vacation, he used to go on bike trips.”

The friend continued, saying that "it’s not enough that our [Bedouin] society has been neglected throughout the war, now we have this tragedy. Even this cemetery is not protected by the Iron Dome defensive missile system.

Eden Solomon, Deiaa Haj Yahia