Soldiers who shot hostages had shoot on-sight orders for all men | The Jerusalem Post

The soldiers who accidentally shot three Israeli hostages during the Israel-Hamas War had orders to shoot all men they saw on sight, and to "use their judgment" when it came to women and children, one of the soldiers told a hostage's mother in a new episode of Hamakor on Channel 13.

Yotam Haim, 28, Samer Talalka, 25, and Alon Shamriz, 26, were all taken captive during Hamas's attack on October 7, 2023. In December that same year, IDF soldiers accidentally shot and killed all three in Gaza, despite them waving a white flag and calling out "Help" in Hebrew.

Two of the hostages, Talalka and Shamriz, had been shot and killed immediately. The third, Yotam, had been wounded in the hand and fled. Soon afterward, he returned to the location where the other two hostages had been killed, raising his arms in surrender, and was killed.

Col. Israel Friedler, commander of the brigade, also admitted to Iris that it was standard procedure for Hamas terrorists to be killed by soldiers even if they had no weapons on them.