JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli forces have taken more than 1,000 people captive in the war against Hamas in Gaza, Israel's military chief said on Sunday.

Addressing soldiers inside the bombarded enclave, Chief of the General Staff Major-General Herzi Halevi said that when combatants "lay down their arms and raise their hands, we arrest them, we don't shoot them"

"We get a lot of intelligence from the captives we have, we already have over a thousand," Halevi said in a video distributed by the military.

Halevi's comments came after soldiers accidentally shot dead three Israeli hostages who the army says were waving a white flag and trying to be rescued.

(Reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)a