Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
An initial probe by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) into the deaths of two reservists in the central Gaza Strip on April 29 found that they were killed in a friendly fire incident.
The two reservists, both Master Sergeants, were serving in the ranks of the Yiftah Brigade’s 9232nd Battalion and the Carmeli Brigade’s 223rd Battalion.
The IDF probe, which was released on April 30, found that the incident began as an Israeli tank was hit by a roadside bomb near the Turkish Hospital in the so-called Netzarim Corridor, a 6.8 kilometers-long Israeli-occupied belt that stretches from the Be’eri area in southern Israel to Gaza’s coast and splits the Strip in half.
Shortly after the blast, mortars and anti-tank missiles were launched by Hamas fighters toward troops in the corridor area, according to the probe.
Amid an exchange of fire, a tank of the Yiftah Brigade left an encampment and shelled a building in the area. The building had been outside of the tank force’s designated boundaries, the probe revealed, meaning the soldiers were not supposed to open fire toward that area.
Several troops, including the two reservists, were in the building when it was hit. The two were killed on the spot and two other soldiers were wounded, including one seriously, according to the IDF.
Out of the 263 Israeli troops killed in ground operations in Gaza, at least 43 were killed by friendly fire and in other accidents, according to the IDF. Another 1,593 soldiers have been wounded in the ground operation so far, 322 of them were seriously wounded, 526 moderately and 745 lightly.
The IDF maintains very little presence in Gaza outside the Netzarim Corridor. Last week, the elite Nahal Brigade was withdrawn from the corridor to prepare for a possible attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The Yiftah and Carmeli brigades took over.
The deadly incident in the corridor, which was ultimately caused by a successful Hamas attack, highlighted coordination problems within the IDF.
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