Samar Fouad Talalka

Samar Fouad Talalka, who was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists on October 7 and was held captive for 70 days before he was mistakenly killed by IDF troops.

Talalka was tragically shot dead on Friday along with two other hostages, Yotam Haim and Alon Lulu Shamriz, after they escaped from captivity.

Talalka, from the Bedouin town of Hura, was kidnapped on October 7 from Nir Am, where he was working a weekend shift in the kibbutz hatchery.

“From here we say that the army must release the hostages immediately, and draw lessons from what happened,” he said. “Samar was supposed to be with us.”

Expressing a similar sentiment to Hebrew news outlet Ynet, Samar’s father said: “I’m devastated to receive him lifeless. We were waiting for him to fulfill all his dreams. His death broke me,” he said.

“We sat for days in fear and waited to hear his voice until the day we were informed that he had been killed.”

Ishak Salalka, Samar’s uncle, told Ynet that they had received information about his wellbeing from a Thai national who was released from captivity during a temporary truce in late November and had hoped for his safe return.

“We knew before this that he was safe and sound from the information provided by a released Thai hostage who was held in the same room as him,” the report quoted Ishak as saying. “He told us that Samar helped and translated for him.”

Asked about who he believes is responsible for his nephew’s death, Ishak said that he is “not interested in investigations and I am not interested in who is guilty and who isn’t. Samar was buried and ascended, and all the talking will not bring him back.

“Our message is that we hope the children of all the families return alive, and that the same mistake will not happen again. There are no winners in war, there is only killing and pain.”

In total, 21 members of Israel’s Bedouin communities were killed on October 7, and six were taken hostage, including Talalka z"l.

Source: The Times of Israel