Israeli soldiers said the army ordered troops to kill any man they encountered in Gaza during the genocide that began in 2023.

“A man, no matter what age, don’t play games with it; kill immediately,” one soldier said, describing the orders they received.

“They even told us that if it’s a woman or a child, use your judgment, because things happen,” he added, saying similar instructions were given regarding donkeys.

His testimony was given to Iris Haim, the mother of an Israeli captive killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, and aired on Channel 13’s investigative programme on Thursday.

In December 2023, Israeli soldiers killed three Israeli captives in Gaza City’s Shujaiya neighbourhood despite them being shirtless, waving a white flag and posing no apparent threat.

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The incident sparked widespread criticism of Israel’s rules of engagement in Gaza, which have led to indiscriminate killings of Palestinians near homes, aid sites and "buffer zones".

In the Channel 13 investigation, the soldier, who spoke anonymously, said he was the one who shot one of the captives during the incident.

Describing his mindset at the time, he said: “I fire 500 bullets a minute. I blow things up. I don’t care. I’m here to kill terrorists.”

Recalling the shooting, the soldier said: “There are three terrorists, I’ll kill them. Then I realised two had already been killed, and one had escaped.”

That captive, he later understood, was Yotam Haim.

According to the investigation, a commander instructed Yotam to approach the building where Israeli troops were stationed. As he approached, soldiers opened fire.

'There was a situation where a person came out with a white flag and was shot on the spot'

- Israeli soldier

“I fired one bullet, and he didn’t die,” the soldier told Yotam's mother. He said his weapon then jammed before another soldier told him: “Let me finish it.”

Iris, who has remained in contact with Israeli military officials since the incident, told Channel 13 that soldiers had effectively been ordered to “kill every person walking on two legs”.

“If a terrorist moves toward me, I try to kill him. I do not try to arrest him,” the brigade commander involved in the incident told her.

Asked whether unarmed individuals were also shot, the commander replied: “Of course, we need to kill him - yes, even if he is completely unarmed.”

Another soldier told Channel 13 that troops were taught to view anyone as a potential threat.

“Even an old man can blow himself up with an explosive device. The protocol was to shoot them,” he said, adding that “there was a situation where a person came out with a white flag and was shot on the spot”.

According to the soldier, the commander who shot the captives said it was impossible to distinguish between Hamas fighters and civilians in Gaza.

The commander was later promoted by the Israeli army's chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, with the military describing him as “an outstanding officer”.

Military ‘cover-up’

The Channel 13 report said the soldiers’ testimonies contradicted the findings of the army’s official investigation.

According to the soldiers, no order to halt fire was given at the time, contradicting the army’s claim that all troops heard the command.

Raviv Drucker, the journalist who conducted the investigation, said the captives' families approached the army "to receive a real investigation, and not what was presented to them, which in their eyes, and in mine as well, was a cover-up and a whitewash".

The investigation also found that five days before the captives were shot dead, Israeli forces fired a missile at a building in northern Gaza where the captives hid after troops exchanged fire with Hamas fighters nearby.

The captives survived and later moved between houses in Shujaiya, hanging signs asking for help, but the report said military intelligence ignored information from troops on the ground.

Of the 251 people taken captive during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in 2023, 85 were either taken dead or later died in various, often contested circumstances during captivity.

Although Israel denies or refuses to comment on accusations that its attacks have killed captives, several reports indicate that military actions have directly or indirectly harmed Israelis held in Gaza.

Israeli newspaper Maariv reported in October 2025 that, according to Israeli officials, many captives were killed by Israeli attacks, especially in the early stages of the war.

On 7 October 2023, the Israeli army invoked the Hannibal Directive, a controversial military protocol designed to prevent the abduction of Israelis by firing on captives even at the risk of harming them.

Israeli forces have killed more than 72,700 Palestinians in Gaza during the two-year genocide, including 850 since a ceasefire was declared in October 2025. Thousands more remain missing and are believed to be buried beneath the rubble.

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Israeli soldiers say orders were to kill any man encountered in Gaza

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