The IDF on Thursday revealed the names of five IDF paratroopers who were killed in a grave friendly fire incident in Gaza. At least eight others were wounded, three of them critically.
They are Captain Roy Beit Yaakov, 22, from Eli; Staff Sergeant Gilad Arye Boim, 22, from Karnei Shomron; Sergeant Daniel Chemu, 20, from Tiberias; Sergeant Ilan Cohen, 20, from Karmiel and Staff Sergeant Betzlel David Shashuah, 22, from Tel Aviv. All served in the Paratroopers Brigade’s 202nd Battalion.
6 View gallery
From top right: Staff Sergeant Gilad Arye Boim, Captain Roy Beit Yaakov, Sergeant Daniel Chemu, Sergeant Ilan Cohen, Staff Sergeant Betzlel David Shashuah
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
The mishap took place after forces from the 202nd Battalion captured a building close to Gaza’s Jabaliya, after which two assisting tanks arrived in the area.
Around 7 p.m., a force from one of the two tanks identified a rifle barrel seen out of a window in the building and informed the tank next to it - which opened fire on the building - apparently without knowing the troops had captured it.
According to the initial investigation, the tank force suspected the building was occupied by terrorists and opened fire. However, the military is still unsure why this occurred, as the two tanks had joined the battalion beforehand and should have been informed about the forces inside the building. It remains unclear if and how the tank force was briefed in the field prior to the operation.
Captain Roy Beit Yaakov from Eli was the son of Hadas and Avidan, the settlement’s mayor. The Mateh Binyamin Regional Council mourned his loss: "The Mateh Benjamin Regional Council embraces the dear family at this difficult time, and together with the Eli community, will assist them in every way. The council sends strength to all the Eli residents."
Staff Sergeant Gilad Arye Boim from Karnei Shomron is the nephew of journalist and radio broadcaster Kalman Liebskind, who mourned him: "Gilad, our beloved nephew, a child full of light and goodness, a faithful soldier of this good country, fell while defending his homeland."
Sergeant Ilan Cohen from Karmiel was a lone soldier from Argentina. His parents, David and Adriana, are on their way to Israel to attend his funeral. The chief rabbi of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina’s (AMIA), an umbrella organization of Argentia’s Jewish community, mourned him: "The Jewish community in Buenos Aires mourns the loss of Sergeant Ilan Cohen, the first lone soldier from Argentina."
Cohen’s family was informed of his death by Israeli Ambassador to Argentina Eyal Sela and Israeli Consul Yehuda Golan.