Israeli hostages mistakenly shot by IDF made SOS signs with leftover food

Three Israeli hostages mistakenly shot by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers had used leftover food to write SOS signs, Israel has revealed.

Signs reading “S.O.S.” and “help, three hostages” in Hebrew were found on the walls of a Gaza building where the men had been hiding, Israel’s military admitted.

The military also distributed photographs of the white cloth signs written in red, likely with leftover food and say the images were hung on a building about 200 meters from where the hostages were shot.

Officials admitted the men had been staying at the building next to where they were shot “for some period of time” and that killing the men who were holding a white flag was a breach of “rules of engagement”.

The Israeli military on Friday identified the three hostages killed in Shejaiya, an eastern suburb of Gaza City, as Yotam Haim and Alon Shamriz and Samer Al-Talalka.

It claimed soldiers opened fire because they felt threatened and believed the men were terrorists.

The men are thought to have been “abandoned or escaped” after two months in captivity.

One of the men survived the initial shooting and took cover in a nearby building – but was then killed after troops opened fire again.

Israel is under increasing pressure to secure a deal to free the around 120 hostages who were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists during the group’s 7 October attacks that killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel.

Israel has since launched a massive retaliatory operation in Gaza it says is aimed at eradicating Hamas.

Since the conflict began more than 18,000 people have been killed, according to Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, and hundreds of thousands of people had been forced to flee their homes.

A temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took place earlier this month so that captives could be freed.

As part of the deal more than 100 hostages were released in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

Since then, hostages families have urged Israel’s government to agree to a truce in which more captives would be freed.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dimissed the calls, saying “military pressure is necessary both for the return of the hostages and for victory”.

Additonal reporting by Reuters.