IDF finds killed Gaza hostages' SOS sign, chief says incident was avoidable

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi held a situational assessment on the ground in Gaza on Sunday during a visit to troops of the 99th Division.

Addressing the soldiers, Halevi referred to the accidental shooting on Friday of three Israeli hostages taken by Hamas, saying, "This was a very difficult and painful incident, but one that could very easily have not happened.

"We have set three goals: to dismantle Hamas, to restore security to the residents of the Gaza border area, and the third mission is to recover the hostages."

Yotam Haim, Alon Shamriz, and Samer Talalka were all killed by IDF soldiers who opened fire as the hostages approached them as they exited the building where they were kept hostages.

The three were stripped to the waist, with raised hands and waving a white flag. The hostages also shouted out "help" in Hebrew but were misidentified as a threat and shot. 

After the incident, IDF troops discovered the hostages had written "help" and "SOS" in Hebrew and English inside the building in case they were found.

"Three people walked out during this incident," Halevi said. "They took into account that they were taking a risk approaching IDF troops and, to reduce the risk, they really thought about [what to do.] They took off their shirts so that no one would think they had explosives, and they held a white cloth on a pole to identify themselves. They spoke in Hebrew. They called for help."

IDF chief: If approached by people with raised hands, do not shoot

Halevi, however, had a stern message for the soldiers should such an incident arise in the future. "You see two people; they have their hands up and no shirts. Take two seconds, and I want to tell you something no less important: if it's two Gazans with a white flag who come out to surrender, do we shoot at them? Absolutely not," he said.

The soldiers who mistakenly killed the hostages violated the rules of engagement, Halevi announced on Saturday night.