Two IOF soldiers killed by 'friendly fire' in Gaza: Israeli media
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Israeli media reports that two Israeli soldiers were killed in a serious “friendly fire” incident that occurred in the Gaza Strip last month.
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Israeli forces are seen near the Gaza Strip border, on December 24, 2023. (AP)
Israeli media reported a serious "friendly fire" incident in the Gaza Strip last month, resulting in the death of two Israeli soldiers.
According to reports on an Israeli channel via Telegram, "soldiers on tanks mistakenly entered the borders of their brigade’s sector and misidentified one of the buildings as suspicious."
The channel provided further details, stating, "The soldiers, believing the building to be suspicious, decided to attack. They fired a tank shell at the second floor, only realizing afterward that the targeted building was, in fact, the field headquarters of one of the commanders overseeing infantry brigades in the sector."
It confirmed that "two soldiers who were on the second floor were killed instantly," detailing that "the battalion commander, who was on the first floor with other soldiers, was not injured."
It noted, "He called over the radio and asked who had fired, but the soldiers did not answer. An examination of the control systems revealed that the building had been fired upon by our forces."
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Earlier this month, the Israeli occupation military stated that its troops shot and killed three captives held by the Palestinian Resistance in Gaza on December 16 during battles in al-Shujaiya after "mistakenly" identifying them as a threat.
"Immediate lessons from the event have been learned," it claimed in a statement.
The occupation military identified the captives as Yotam Haim and Alon Shamriz, both taken from Kibbutz "Kfar Aza" during the Palestinian Resistance's Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, in addition to Samer el-Talalqa, who was taken from Kibbutz "Nir Am".
The spokesperson for the Israeli occupation army, Daniel Hagari, said the military "bears responsibility for everything that happened."
Late last month, a report published on the Israeli news website Haaretz discussed several incidents of "friendly fire" among Israeli occupation forces that have resulted in casualties during the ongoing ground offensive against the Gaza Strip.
The report mentioned that the Israeli occupation military claims that most of these "friendly fire" incidents occurred during joint combat between armored and infantry forces, adding that investigations are underway to draw future lessons.
Israeli media outlets had broadcast scenes of infantry forces advancing into the Gaza Strip, showing confusion and disarray among Israeli occupation soldiers as they came under fire from Palestinian Resistance fighters. Several observers on social media suggested that this is an indication that the reserve forces invading Gaza lack real experience in urban warfare, potentially leading to increased losses among occupation forces during confrontations with the Palestinian Resistance.
