“Take two seconds.” The Israeli army's chief of staff refocused his troops on Sunday after three hostages were “accidentally” killed by Israeli soldiers in Gaza on Friday.
“You see two people, they have their hands raised and are shirtless, take two seconds,” urged Herzi Halevi in a video broadcast on X (ex-Twitter) on Sunday. “I want to tell you something equally important: If it is two Gazans with a white flag who are about to surrender, why should we shoot them?” Absolutely not. Absolutely not. This is not the IDF,” continued the chief of staff, speaking from Gaza to soldiers of the Israeli 99th Division.
The three hostages, Yotam Haim, Alon Shamriz and Samir Talalka, were killed on Friday after they were “mistakenly” identified as a “threat”. However, the three men appeared shirtless, carrying a white flag and speaking in Hebrew before being shot.
“The IDF does not shoot a person whose hands are in the air”
The hostages knew they were “taking a risk by approaching IDF forces,” but they tried to “minimize” it through precautionary measures, the chief of staff said. “I am sure that (the soldiers involved) are the best because everyone wants to do the right thing, and I am sure that they were convinced that they did the right thing,” Herzi Halevi continued. “I'm not talking to you to tell you whether they were right or wrong, but so that we can be right in the future,” he also said.
“Even those who fought and are now laying down their weapons by raising their hands, we stop them, we do not shoot at them,” he stressed. The IDF does not shoot a person whose hands are in the air. It’s a strength, not a weakness.”
VIDEO. Three Israeli hostages were “accidentally” killed by IDF soldiers in Gaza
The army expressed its “deep remorse” on Friday after the incident and assured that it had “immediately learned lessons from it”. She also announced the opening of an investigation. She revealed Sunday that she had spotted signs calling for help near where the three hostages were killed. “The incident is under investigation,” she said.