IDF Names Soldier Killed in Friendly Fire Incident

By Hamodia Staff

YERUSHALAYIM — The IDF on Tuesday named the soldier who was killed by friendly fire near Tulkarem hours earlier as Staff Sergeant Natan Fitoussi.

Fitoussi, 20, was a soldier in the Kfir Brigade and was a resident of Netanya. He was posthumously promoted from the rank of sergeant to the rank of staff sergeant.

Reports of a soldier hit by fire emerged late Monday, with early reports suggesting there might have been a terror attack. The soldier was airlifted to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Fitoussi ‘s parents harbor no anger toward the fellow soldier who shot their son, having mistakenly identified him as an intruder at their post.

“The family has no anger toward the soldier who shot. Not only are they not angry with him, they even feel sorry for him and I have no doubt that they would want to meet him,”  a close friend of the deceased soldier’s father told reporters on Tuesday.

“The father is a dentist. They have three daughters… and Nathan was the only son. They left everything in France and came to Israel,” he said.

Fitoussi was to be buried at the Netanya military cemetery at 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The military said the incident is being investigated. “At about 10:30 p.m. IDF soldiers reported hearing gunfire near their location. At first it was believed the shooting originated from Palestinian sources, and a large reinforcement force was dispatched to the scene,” IDF’s spokesperson said.

The preliminary investigation showed the victim left his post for a brief period, reportedly to daven Maariv, and was mistaken for an intruder by a fellow soldier upon his return. As a result, he was shot twice.

The IDF said it expresses its condolences to the family and will continue to support them.

The army also “categorically” condemned unconfirmed reports posted by Israeli media before official confirmation, stressing that family members were not yet notified. “Tweeting without thinking twice is to harm our unity,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said.