IDF Soldiers Had Orders to Shoot All Men on Sight During Hostage Incident in Gaza

Soldiers involved in the accidental shooting of three Israeli hostages in Gaza operated under orders to shoot all men on sight and to use their judgment with women and children, according to one soldier's account given to a hostage's mother. The three hostages, who had been taken captive during the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, were killed by IDF troops in December 2023 despite waving a white flag and shouting "Help" in Hebrew.

Two were shot and killed immediately. The third was wounded, fled, then returned with arms raised and was also shot dead. The soldier identified only as D. spoke with Iris Haim, the mother of Yotam Haim, one of the three killed. The conversation was included in a recent episode of the Israeli television program Hamakor on Channel 13.

Iris Haim had questioned the military's account of the incident for more than two years. According to the soldier, the commander issued an order to hold fire after the first two hostages were shot, but the order was not communicated to all troops in time.

"It was a matter of seconds," the soldier said, noting that ordinary soldiers lacked walkie-talkies and the commander would have needed to run to reach them. Iris Haim challenged that explanation, asking how the commander could have expected the order to be relayed so quickly.

The soldier who fired the shot that killed her son later told her in a phone call that troops had not received notification of the hold-fire order by the time he fired.

The brigade commander, identified in the report as Col. Israel Friedler, told Iris Haim that it was standard procedure to kill unarmed individuals suspected of being Hamas terrorists. He stated that all soldiers had heard the order to hold fire but failed to follow it, describing the incident as a very serious error.