An initial investigation of the tragic incident in which IDF soldiers killed three hostages in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City revealed that the incident began when a soldier noticed three men emerging from a building near them.
Although the three men were shirtless [to show they weren’t wearing suicide belts] and holding a white flag, the soldier immediately opened fire and warned his fellow soldiers, believing the men were terrorists trying to lure the soldiers into a trap.
Two hostages were killed immediately and a third, who was wounded, ran back into the building. At that point, the battalion commander ordered the soldiers to stop shooting. The third hostage was heard yelling “Help” in Hebrew. He emerged from the building again and he was shot and killed by another soldier.
At this point, the battalion commander understood from the non-Arabic appearance of the third hostage that a mistake may have been made. The three bodies were taken back to Israel and identified there as three Israelis who had been abducted to Gaza.
The inquiry determined that the soldiers had opened fire in violation of protocols. However, according to the IDF, it is understandable what led the soldiers to open fire in recent days. Hamas terrorists in Shejaiya have tried to lure IDF soldiers into traps by playing recordings or yelling in Hebrew and waving white flags. Additionally, everyone the IDF have encountered on the streets of the neighborhood in recent days are Hamas terrorists, some dressed as civilians but wearing suicide belts under their clothing. The soldiers also had no expectation of the possibility of encountering escaped hostages on the streets.
It was also revealed that IDF forces had discovered a building a few hundred meters away two days before the incident with SOS scrawled on it in red spray paint as well as the words “three hostages” and “Help” in Hebrew. At the time, the soldiers believed that the graffiti was an ambush attempt and the building was booby-trapped, and explosive devices were actually found nearby. The IDF is now checking the building to clarify whether the three hostages were held there.
“We did not prepare ourselves or the troops for the possibility of captives appearing on the streets in Gaza,” a senior officer said. “This is a terrible tragedy for all of us and a complex scenario for the troops.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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3 Responses
Yes, it is a tragedy, but as they say, in war, stuff happens.
Suggesting that the soldiers who killed the escaping Israeli POWs were so anxious to kill Palestinians that they violated orders and shot persons whom they perceived as unarmed enemies who were surrendering. This means the soldiers could be prosecuted for the equivalent of first degree murder. If one tries to murder someone, and murders the wrong person, it is not a defense or mitigating circumstance.
They were shirtless, but they could still have been carrying anything in their pants. The soldiers were justly afraid that it was a trap, because 95 times out of 100 it would be. If the exact same scenario replays itself they should act the same way, because if they don’t they will r”l end up dead.
Friendly fire is simply part of war, and always has been ever since the first war in history was fought. Stonewall Jackson was killed by friendly fire; and every Israeli, certainly every Israeli soldier, knows about General Mickey Marcus, who was killed by friendly fire. There’s nothing that can be done to eliminate it without destroying the armed forces’ effectiveness and losing the war.