Thirteen Israeli soldiers have been killed in friendly fire incidents since the start of the Israeli military’s ground operations in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 27, the Israel Defense Forces reported on Tuesday.
In all, 20 out of the 107 soldiers killed in Gaza since the ground invasion against Hamas began died as a result of accidents, including the 13 killed as a result of friendly fire, according to the IDF.
Out of the 13, five were hit in an Israeli Air Force strike after being mistakenly identified as terrorists, four were hit by tank fire and four more by infantry fire.
The rest of the accidental deaths involved two soldiers being run over by an armored vehicle, two hit by a bullet, one killed by a stray shot, and two killed after being hit by IDF shrapnel.
A total of 434 Israeli soldiers have died since the war began on Oct. 7, when hordes of terrorists burst across the border, murdering 1,200 people, wounding over 5,000 others and taking 240 hostages back to Gaza.
The IDF announced on Tuesday that over 1,645 soldiers have been injured since Oct. 7.
Israel launched “Operation Swords of Iron” in response to the Oct. 7 attack, with the goals of dismantling the military and governing capabilities of Hamas in Gaza and securing the return of the hostages.
On Sunday, the IDF said that the army had conducted 300 evacuations of a total of 600 wounded soldiers since the start of ground operations.
