There is an SOS Sign Near the Location Where the Hostage was Shot by the Israeli Military: IDF Commander Admits It was Difficult, It was Thought to be a Hamas Trap

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Halevi (fainted) when he met his troops in Gaza on Sunday, after the shooting of three hostages. (Source: Israel Defense Forces)

JAKARTA - The commander of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) admitted that the shooting of three hostages in Gaza last week was difficult, while an SOS sign was found near the location where they were shot and it was thought to be a trap set by the Hamas militant group.

The military shared photos of white cloth signs written in red, likely containing food waste. It was hung in a building about 200 meters from where the hostages were shot, said IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, reported by Reuters, December 18.

Quoting The Times of Israel, the building with these signs was discovered by the Israeli army on Wednesday. At first it was considered to have the potential to be a trap by Hamas. It said Hamas had attempted to lure soldiers into a trap in the area in recent days.

The IDF said that, according to initial investigations, the three hostages had been in the building for some time after successfully escaping Hamas or being abandoned by their captors.

On Friday, the three approached soldiers while bare-chested and waving white flags. However, they were shot at by soldiers who mistakenly identified them as threats and opened fire in violation of regulations.

The Israeli military identified the three hostages killed in Shejaiya, an eastern suburb of Gaza City, as Yotam Haim and Alon Shamriz, who were kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. As well as Samer Al-Talalka, who was kidnapped from near Kibbutz Nir Am.

Israel's military chief of staff told troops in Gaza not to repeat the mistake, while an investigation into the shooting was underway.

Speaking to 99th Division troops in the Gaza Strip, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said, "hopefully we will have another opportunity for the hostages to come to us and we will do the right thing."

"I tell you in a very simple way, this incident was very difficult and painful, and no one will come and say otherwise," Lt. Gen. Halevi told the soldiers.

"This is an incident that could not have happened easily. And think, why are we carrying out maneuvers (in Gaza)? We have set three goals, to disband Hamas, restore security to residents (border settlements) and the third mission is to free the hostages," he explained .

"You see two people, they raised their hands and had no clothes on, it took two seconds," he told soldiers, referring to Friday's tragic incident, in which the three hostages were bare-chested and one of the hostages waved a white flag.

"And I want to say something that is no less important, what if there were two Gazans wearing white flags who came out to surrender, would we shoot them? Absolutely not. Absolutely not," stressed Halevi.

"Even those who were fighting and are now laying down their weapons and raising their hands, we arrest them, we don't shoot them. We get a lot of intelligence from the detainees we have, we already have more than a thousand people," he stressed.

Lt. Gen. Halevi added, "We didn't shoot them because the IDF doesn't shoot people who raise their hands. This is a strength, not a weakness."