Military says conclusions of its probe into the deaths of the captives counsel an Israeli air strike probably killed them in November.
After denials for months, the Israeli army says there’s a “excessive likelihood” its air strike was accountable for the deaths of three Israeli captives in Gaza in November.
The army on Sunday stated it was unaware the captives have been current in a tunnel within the Palestinian territory once they launched the assault on November 10, 2023.
The our bodies of the three captives – Corporal Nik Beizer, Sergeant Ron Sherman and French-Israeli nationwide Elia Toledano – have been recovered on December 14. However the reason for demise was not decided.
“The findings of the investigation counsel a excessive likelihood that the three have been killed because of a byproduct of an [Israeli army] air strike, in the course of the elimination of the Hamas Northern Brigade commander, Ahmed Ghandour, on November tenth, 2023,” the army stated in an announcement.
The army stated its investigation revealed that the three captives had been held in a tunnel complicated from which Ghandour operated.
“On the time of the strike, the [army] didn’t have details about the presence of hostages within the focused compound,” the army assertion stated.
All three captives have been amongst nearly 250 people kidnapped by the Palestinian group Hamas in its October 7 assault contained in the Israeli territory.
In its report, the military stated “it isn’t attainable to positively decide the circumstances of their deaths”.
The conclusions might add additional strain on the Israeli authorities to strike a deal to carry residence the remaining captives held by Hamas.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent Hamdah Salhut stated the Israeli military’s admission may very well be “an embarrassment” for the federal government. Salhut was reporting from Amman, Jordan as a result of Al Jazeera has been banned by the Israeli authorities.
“There have been a sequence of serious intelligence and safety failures that the army has gone by means of all through this warfare, essentially the most notable of them again in December when the Israeli military shot and killed three captives within the Gaza Strip,” she stated.
Salhut stated the most recent admission by the army “just isn’t being acquired fairly nicely as a result of there are households of captives calling for a deal, fearing this actual sort of factor”.
“It’s actually a humiliation on all scales, not simply politically however security-wise as nicely, that the military made this admission so many months later.”