The Israeli military on Sunday said there was a "high probability" an Israeli air strike was responsible for the deaths of three hostages who were killed in Gaza in November.
The bodies of the three hostages, Corporal Nik Beizer, Sergeant Ron Sherman and French-Israeli Elia Toledano, were brought back to Israel in December.
"The findings of the investigation suggest a high probability that the three were killed as a result of a byproduct of an IDF air strike, during the elimination of the Hamas Northern Brigade commander, Ahmed Ghandour, on November 10th, 2023," the military said in a statement, referring to the three captives.
"This assessment is based on the location of where their bodies were found in relation to the strike's impact, performance analysis of the strike, intelligence findings, the results of the pathological reports, and the conclusions of the Forensic Medicine Institute."
"This is a high-probability assessment based on all of the available information, but it is not possible to definitively determine the circumstances of their deaths," the military said.
The bodies of the three hostages were recovered on December 14.
The military said its investigation revealed that the three captives had been held in a tunnel complex from which Ghandour operated.
While 105 hostages were released during a one-week truce in November in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, three captives were killed by Israeli fire.
Yotam Haim, Samer El-Talalqa and Alon Shamriz were mistakenly killed by Israeli troops in December in north Gaza, according to the military.
Of the 251 seized as hostages in October, 97 are still held captive in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
People attend a protest against the Israeli government and to show support for the hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack in Tel Aviv on Saturday. REUTERS
