Israeli Military Says Its Airstrike Likely Killed 3 Israelis Held By Hamas

Last updated on September 16th, 2024 at 09:15 am

The Israeli military has concluded one of its airstrikes likely killed three Israeli citizens being held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip last year.

The hostages, Israeli military Cpl. Nik Beizer, Sgt. Ron Sherman, and Elia Toledano, were captured on Oct. 7 of last year, as Hamas and other Palestinian militants entered southern Israel. On Dec. 14, Israeli ground forces identified and recovered the bodies of the three captives from an underground tunnel.

The underground tunnel overlapped with a position Israeli aircraft had targeted a month prior, on Nov. 10, in hopes of killing a Hamas suspect known as Ahmed Ghandour.

“The findings of the investigation suggest a high probability that the three were killed as a result of a byproduct of an [Israel Defense Forces] airstrike, during the elimination of the Hamas Northern Brigade commander, Ahmed Ghandour, on November 10th, 2023,” the Israeli military said in an emailed statement shared with FreeBase News on Sept. 15.

The Israeli military said it reached its assessment by examining the position of the bodies in relation to the strike’s impact, and after forensic medical examinations of the bodies.

The Israeli military said it hadn’t known their hostages were located in the same area as Ghandour, and wouldn’t have conducted the strike had they been aware.

“Furthermore, there was information suggesting that they were located elsewhere, and thus the area was not designated as one with suspected presence of hostages,” the Israeli military added.

Hamas has attributed several hostage deaths to Israeli strikes and other combat actions throughout the Gaza Strip. The announcement concerning Beizer, Sherman, and Toledano marks the first time the Israeli military has assessed one of its airstrikes responsible for killing its own citizens during the ongoing conflict.

The announcement of these investigative findings comes two weeks after Israeli troops recovered the bodies of six other hostages. The Israeli military determined Hamas captors killed the six hostages shortly before Israeli troops could find and rescue them.

Hostage deaths have fueled protests within Israel, with some activists urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speed along a deal to win the release of around 100 captives Hamas is still holding.

Other Israelis have died since Oct. 7 as a result of Israeli military actions. Israeli ground troops shot and killed hostages Alon Shamriz, Yotam Haim, and Samar Talalka in December, as the trio was attempting to come forward and identify themselves to be rescued.

Some allegations have emerged that Israeli troops killed several of their own citizens on Oct. 7. One incident involved an Israeli tank firing toward a home in the Israeli community of Kibbutz Be’eri, where 13 Israelis were later found dead in the rubble. An Israeli military investigation, published in July, concluded their tank fire was not to blame for the deaths, but that shrapnel from one of their tank shells may have injured two Israelis.