I don't know how many people believe Halevi when he says the IDF doesn't shoot those who surrender. The bombs falling on Gaza have also killed thousands of people begging for their lives. A white flag wouldn't stop them

I want to believe Herzl Halevi's words so much. When the IDF chief of staff says the Israeli military doesn't shoot those who have surrendered, I want to believe him. "When two Gazans with a white flag come out and surrender, we shoot them? Absolutely not," he told soldiers near the Strip on Sunday. "That is not the IDF. We don't shoot a person who puts down his weapon and raises his arms."

Halevi went on to describe the unbelievable details of the incident on Friday night in which three Israeli hostages taken by Hamas militants on October 7 managed to escape captivity, only to be shot by IDF soldiers as they were waving a white flag, calling for help in Hebrew. Two days before the incident, soldiers noticed makeshift signs with calls for help in English and in Hebrew on a building. They decided not to search it.

Alon Shamriz, Samer Fuad al-Talalka and Yotam Haim were all in their 20s. Alon loved stand-up comedy, Samer was about to get married, Yotam played drums in a band. For the last two months, their families became familiar faces in Israeli homes.

Sometimes, in interviews, they seemed overcome with despair, other times they were hopeful. In the beginning, and also during much of their time in Gaza, the families of Alon, Samer and Yotam had no certainty that their loved ones were alive. But they weren't dead. They weren't dead-dead, confirmed dead, identified by their remains.

So even when it became clear that they wouldn't return in the hostage-prisoner swap that took place during the temporary Israel-Hamas cease-fire, since young men weren't part of it, there were reasons for optimism. "When all this is over," their families must have said. Alon will want to see his favorite comedian. Samer will be reunited with his fiancé. Yotam will be back in the music studio. It is devastating how close the three of them were to returning home, before being gunned down by IDF soldiers.

I don't know how many people believe General Halevi when he says the IDF doesn't shoot those who have surrendered. Israeli soldiers have shot unarmed civilians in a few different incidents that have been caught on camera lately. In Israel, as well as in the West Bank and Gaza. The bombs falling on Gaza from the air have also killed thousands of people begging for their lives. A white flag wouldn't stop them.

In his conversation with soldiers on Sunday, Halevi was quoted as saying: "Always ask yourselves questions, always use your head, and hopefully we will have another opportunity. We will find hostages, or arrive at a house, and we will do the right thing." It's not an easy task, but if Halevi wants his legacy to include anything but being part of a colossal failure, he better find the way.