An Israeli soldier was killed in a friendly fire incident overnight in the southern Gaza Strip during military operations near Khan Yunis, the Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday.
The soldier was identified as Staff Sgt. Ofri Yafe, 21, a fighter in the Paratroopers Brigade’s Reconnaissance Unit. Yafe was from HaYogev, a moshav in the Jezreel Valley, and was also described in Israeli media as having grown up in Kibbutz Megiddo in northern Israel.
According to a preliminary IDF investigation, the incident occurred during nighttime operations near the Yellow Line in the Khan Yunis area, where paratrooper forces were conducting a routine operation aimed at clearing Hamas infrastructure. Two IDF units were operating in the same area at the time.
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At around 2 a.m., one of the forces mistakenly identified the second group as hostile and opened fire, the military said. Yafe was critically wounded by the gunfire. A military helicopter was dispatched to evacuate him to a hospital, but he died of his wounds during the evacuation, according to the IDF.
The military said the circumstances surrounding the incident are still under investigation and that Yafe’s family has been notified.
Yafe is survived by his parents, Hadas and Yiftach, and his siblings Noy, Tzuf, and Itamar. In a statement, his family said they were struggling to comprehend the loss. “We are shocked by the tragedy and cannot digest the loss of Ofri, our beloved son. This is incomprehensible,” the family wrote.
Local authorities in northern Israel also issued statements mourning Yafe. The Jezreel Valley Regional Council said he “set out to defend the State of Israel and all of us, and fell in battle.”
According to IDF data, 472 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the Gaza Strip during Israel’s ground operations against Hamas, including 80 who died as a result of friendly fire incidents or other accidents.