Five Israeli soldiers killed by friendly fire in northern Gaza

Five Israeli soldiers were announced killed and another seven wounded in a friendly fire accident in northern Gaza on Thursday morning. 

The five soldiers were identified as: Staff Sgt. Betzalel David Shashuah, 21, from Tel Aviv, Cpt. Roy Beit Yaakov, 22, from Eli, Sgt. Ilan Cohen, 20, from Karmiel, Staff Sgt. Gilad Arye Boim, 22, from Karnei Shomron, and Sgt. Daniel Chemu, 20, from Tiberias.

According to a preliminary investigation by the army, a tank fired at a building in Jabaliya where the soldiers were operating after identifying a gun barrel in one of the windows.

The announcement came as the IDF chief Herzi Halevi, held a situational assessment in the Rafah area in the southern Gaza Strip, saying that the army is in the process of “increasing the pressure in Gaza.”

“We are striking widely and strongly in the north of the Gaza Strip in Jabaliya. And once again we see there attempts [by Hamas] to hold on and rebuild, therefore we need to deal with this again, and prove that we will return each time. We’re stubborn, we won’t let Hamas rebuild itself and they will pay a price. In my opinion, in the last day or two, the number of terrorists eliminated per day has increased, which is important, and we want to return to eliminating many terrorists each day,” he added.

Meanwhile, Egypt and Israel quarrelled over the army’s operation in Rafah, with Cairo reportedly warning that an invasion would have consequences for the two allies’ relations.