‘Save Us!’ Audio Reveals Israeli Hostages Pleaded for Help Before Being Shot by IDF, Who Mistook Them for Hamas

AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg

Israeli hostages kept captive by Hamas pleaded with the Israeli Defense Forces for help just days before they were shot by IDF soldiers who mistook them for Hamas, according to newly released audio.

In an audio recording released by Israel’s Kan News on Sunday, 26-year-old Alon Shamriz and 28-year-old Yotam Haim – who were being held hostage by Hamas, along with 22-year-old Samer Talalka – can be heard shouting, “Save us!” and “We’re hostages!” in an attempt to alert IDF soldiers to their presence, before several gunshots ring out.

After escaping Hamas captivity, the three hostages were killed by the IDF just days later and a few hundred meters away as they waved a white cloth and approached IDF troops for help.

According to the Times of Israel, IDF soldiers “had heard shouting of ‘Help’ and ‘Hostages’ in Hebrew from the building” during the incident, “but they believed it was an attempt by Hamas to lure them into an ambush.”

Signs left by the three men were also reportedly “dismissed as part of a ploy” by the IDF.

Shamriz’s brother lashed out at the audio leak in a post on social media, Sunday and accused the IDF of “inflicting psychological terror.”

“I thought it was behind us..no one needs to hear this,” he wrote. “And here the Israeli army is leaking and inflicting psychological terror on us by Hamas. Now it’s out..forever.”

Shamriz’s family have protested the Israeli government’s decision not to recognize Alon as a fallen soldier and have criticized its handling of the situation.

In December, days after the hostages were killed, Shamriz’s father Avi Shamriz said, “The IDF abandoned my son on October 7, and the IDF murdered my son on December 14. That’s what happened.”