The Israeli army has said that an internal inquiry found it “highly likely” it killed a kibbutz resident as it fought Hamas gunmen during their October 7, 2023 attack, AFP reports.
The inquiry, which heard testimonies from soldiers and civilians, sought to establish the cause of death for Tomer Eliaz-Arava and his mother Dikla Arava, two residents of kibbutz Nahal Oz, one of the communities worst hit by the attack.
The army said that according to the inquiry team’s assessment, Eliaz-Arava had first been abducted by Hamas fighters and forced to go door to door to persuade residents to come outside.
The inquiry found that after an hour and a half, Eliaz-Arava managed to escape and hide. Soldiers from a unit that had come to the kibbutz’s aid saw “a suspicious figure”, whom they shot at. “The inquiry concluded that it is highly likely the figure was Tomer Eliaz-Arava, who was mistakenly killed by (Israeli army) fire due to a misidentification.”
The statement said that in the meantime Hamas fighters abducted Eliza-Arava’s mother taking her in a vehicle towards Gaza. “During the drive towards Gaza, the vehicle was fired upon from the rear,” resulting in her death.
“The inquiry suggests a reasonable possibility that Dikla Arava was killed by (Israeli army) fire after being in a vehicle identified by the forces as belonging to fleeing terrorists,” the army said. It added that “in both cases, it is not possible to determine with absolute certainty what caused the deaths”.
