Slain soldiers’ families hear the news on Whatsapp

Hours before the IDF notified the families of the 13 soldiers killed in Gaza early Sunday that their relatives had been slain, rumors of the killings spread on the Whatsapp messaging app, which is how two of the bereaved families first heard of their loved one’s deaths.

A relative of one of the victims tells Ynet that the victim’s brother, also an IDF soldier, was stationed outside Gaza when numerous people confronted him with the rumor that his brother had been killed. Only later did the army inform him officially and send him home, the report says.

“The circulation of these rumors is cruel, outrageous, and there must be an investigation into who’s spreading it,” he says.

Similarly, a second family received the news from WhatsApp, and was only formally notified hours later. One of the soldier’s best friends heard the tragic news via a text message as well, Channel 2 reports.

In other cases, the names of the soldiers circulated on WhatsApp turned out to be false, causing needless worry to various families.

One IDF soldier was said to be killed in Gaza, and his family plunged into mourning before learning that he was still alive, although he had been hospitalized in serious condition.

In other cases, Channel 2 reports, friends showed up at the doorstep of the parents of a Golani soldier, announcing that their son had been killed and comforting them ahead of receiving the dreaded IDF call, but the call never came, as the rumors turned out to be unsubstantiated.