The Israel Defence Forces confirmed on Thursday morning it is investigating a friendly fire incident in northern Gaza on Wednesday which killed five soldiers and injured another seven in northern Gaza.
The incident took place in the Jabalya refugee camp where Hamas has been trying to regroup. An initial probe found that a tank fired two shells at a building where soldiers from the Paratroopers Brigade’s 202nd Battalion were gathered.
The soldiers had notified the tanks that they were establishing a post in the building. Later in the evening, the tank crews spotted a gun barrel from one of the building’s windows and fired two shells, erroneously believing they belonged to armed terrorists.
Killed in the incident were Cpt. Roy Beit Yaakov, 22, Staff Sgt. Gilad Arye Boim, 22, Sgt. Daniel Chemu, 20, Sgt. Ilan Cohen, 20, and Staff Sgt. Betzalel David Shashuah, 21.
Another seven soldiers were injured, including three seriously.
The IDF said its probe of the incident is continuing. At least 1,200 people were killed and 240 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Around 30 of the remaining 132 hostages are believed dead.