IDF Dog Reached Hostages but Was Shot by Hamas; Audio Only Found Later

A dog sent by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) into the lair of Hamas terrorists during a firefight last week recorded audio of three Israeli hostages calling for help — but the dog’s media feed was only reviewed Monday, three days after the hostages were killed.

The three — Yotam Haim, 28; Samar Fouad Talalka, 22; and Alon Lulu Shamriz, 26 — were able to escape their captors after the Israeli Golani brigade killed the terrorists. But the IDF did not know they were there.

The Times of Israel reported:

A dog from the military’s Oketz canine unit recorded one of three escaped hostages yelling for help, according to new details from the military’s investigation, the latest indication of how far the trio went to signal their identities to the Israel Defense Forces before they were mistakenly shot to death by troops.

…

During the gun battle, an Oketz dog was sent into the building, which the army later determined was where the hostages were being held. The dog was killed by the Hamas gunmen, who were in turn killed by the Golani soldiers, allowing Alon Shamriz, Yotam Haim and Samar Talalka to escape captivity, according to the investigation.

…

During the battle, a camera mounted on the dog recorded the voice of a hostage, apparently Alon Shamriz, shouting “Help” and that there were hostages there. They are not seen on the footage. The feed from the dog’s body camera was not being monitored live and was only discovered on December 18 after the body of the canine was recovered.

The IDF suspected that banners hung outside a building — “SOS”; “Help — 3 hostages” — were a trap. A sniper who shot them, days later, did not recognize their white flag.

And the dog who recorded audio — not video — of the hostages — was shot by terrorists, and the footage was not reviewed in time.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.