Israel Military says ‘excessive likelihood’ IDF air strike killed 3 hostages in November

Israeli troopers examine the doorway to a reported tunnel, the place the Israeli Military stated Palestinian militants killed six hostages, in Rafah within the Gaza Strip on September 13, 2024, amid the continued struggle between Israel and Palestinian militant teams. Photograph taken throughout a managed tour and subsequently edited beneath the supervision of the Israeli navy.
| Photograph Credit score: AFP

The Israeli navy on Sunday (September 15, 2024) stated there was a “excessive likelihood” an Israeli air strike was liable for the deaths of three hostages who had been killed in Gaza in November.

The our bodies of the three hostages, Corporal Nik Beizer, Sergeant Ron Sherman and French-Israeli Elia Toledano, had been introduced again to Israel in December following their deaths the earlier month.

“The findings of the investigation recommend a excessive likelihood that the three had been killed because of a byproduct of an IDF air strike, throughout the elimination of the Hamas Northern Brigade commander, Ahmed Ghandour, on November tenth, 2023,” the navy stated in an announcement, referring to the three captives.

“This evaluation is predicated on the situation of the place their our bodies had been present in relation to the strike’s impression, efficiency evaluation of the strike, intelligence findings, the outcomes of the pathological studies, and the conclusions of the Forensic Drugs Institute.”

“It is a high-probability evaluation based mostly on the entire accessible data, however it isn’t potential to definitively decide the circumstances of their deaths,” the navy stated.

The our bodies of the three hostages had been recovered on December 14.

The navy 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 IDF didn’t have details about the presence of hostages within the focused compound,” the navy stated.

“Moreover, there was data suggesting that they had been situated elsewhere, and thus the realm was not designated as one with suspected presence of hostages.”