Initial military probe finds Staff Sgt. Ofri Yafe was killed near Yellow Line in Khan Younis area around 2 a.m. after being mistakenly identified as part of enemy forces

An Israel Defense Forces soldier was killed in an incident of “friendly fire” in the southern Gaza Strip overnight, the military announced on Wednesday.

The soldier was named as Staff Sgt. Ofri Yafe, 21, of the Paratroopers Brigade’s Reconnaissance Unit, from HaYogev, a moshav in the Jezreel Valley.

According to a preliminary IDF probe, the incident occurred as two forces from the Paratroopers Brigade set out for routine mop-up operations near the Yellow Line in the Khan Younis area, aimed at clearing Hamas infrastructure.

At around 2 a.m., one of the forces mistakenly identified the second group of soldiers as an enemy and opened fire.