Military says conclusions of its probe into the deaths of the captives counsel an Israeli air strike seemingly killed them in November.
After denials for months, the Israeli navy says there’s a “excessive chance” its air strike was accountable for the deaths of three Israeli captives in Gaza in November.
The navy 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 dying was not decided.
“The findings of the investigation counsel a excessive chance that the three have been killed on account of a byproduct of an [Israeli army] air strike, through the elimination of the Hamas Northern Brigade commander, Ahmed Ghandour, on November tenth, 2023,” the navy stated in an announcement.
The navy stated its investigation revealed that the three captives had been held in a tunnel advanced 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 navy assertion stated.
All three captives have been amongst practically 250 individuals 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 stress on the Israeli authorities to strike a deal to convey house the remaining captives held by Hamas.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent Hamdah Salhut stated the Israeli military’s admission may very well be “a humiliation” 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 collection of serious intelligence and safety failures that the navy has gone by way 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 navy “is just not being acquired fairly effectively as a result of there are households of captives calling for a deal, fearing this precise sort of factor”.
“It’s actually a humiliation on all scales, not simply politically however security-wise as effectively, that the military made this admission so many months later.”