IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir is expected in the coming days to receive the findings of an investigation into an incident in which Staff Sergeant Ofri Yafe was killed by friendly fire in Khan Younis last week, according to military officials.
The probe, completed this week by the Gaza Division and the Paratroopers Brigade, is also expected to include recommendations for command measures against officers in the brigade.
Yafe was fatally shot in eastern Khan Younis after being mistakenly identified as a militant by another soldier serving as a sniper during an operation to locate and destroy infrastructure near the border in central Gaza. The investigation uncovered a series of deficiencies and failures in the preparations of the force involved in the mission.
According to the findings, there were serious shortcomings in the conduct of officers responsible for the sniper who carried out the shooting, including inadequate pre-mission briefings and what investigators believe were missing required firing approvals. The report also determined that several required preliminary procedures were not carried out at the sniper’s position, steps that could have prevented the fatal outcome.
The Paratroopers Reconnaissance Unit had joined operational activity along the so-called “Yellow Line” and buffer zone in central Gaza about a week before the incident. While the unit’s commanders are considered experienced, the investigation found that officers should have more clearly emphasized the new operational environment to their troops: a relatively calm security period following four months of ceasefire, an area under full military control and offensive activity not conducted under active fire.
“There was no threat to the force, no gunfire directed at the soldiers and no operational justification for this shooting,” an officer familiar with the details of the incident said. “A sniper has a commander at the position and established procedures, which in this case should have been even stricter given the nature and timing of the operation. There will be no avoiding serious command measures such as dismissals and reprimands, including against senior brigade commanders, not only the team commander or the sniper.”
The incident comes amid what officials describe as a rise in serious disciplinary problems within the military, including erosion of operational discipline, disregard for orders and other misconduct. Zamir has signaled his intention to establish an additional panel to address the broader issue, as the military navigates what senior officers describe as a transitional period marked by declining tensions at the end of prolonged fighting and the possibility of renewed combat in Gaza or Lebanon.
Throughout the war, senior commanders were reluctant to remove officers over similar incidents. However, as cases have expanded to include violent altercations between soldiers, smuggling of goods into Gaza and even reported gambling on the likelihood of war with Iran, Zamir may seek to take firm action in one of the cases as a warning to the broader force.
In a statement, the military spokesperson said: “The incident is under investigation. Upon completion, the findings will be presented transparently to the bereaved family and then to the public. The military shares in the family’s grief and will continue to support them.”