A 20-year-old Franco-Israeli soldier was killed by “friendly fire” in the northern occupied West Bank, the Israeli army announced on Tuesday. The French embassy in Tel Aviv told AFP that Natan Fitoussi was French. He arrived from France in Israel in 2014 with his family, told AFP an official of the town hall of the Israeli city of Netanya (west) where he resided.
Killed by Israeli army gunfire
On Monday evening, he was killed by Israeli army fire near the Palestinian town of Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank, the army said, without initially detailing the circumstances of the incident. She had reported Monday evening of a shooting near Tulkarem, before retracting and indicating to review the incident, without elaborating.
Tuesday evening, the Israeli army presented the conclusions of its “preliminary investigation” into this case. “Sergeant Natan Fitoussi left the guard post and on his return he was identified by another soldier as a suspect. Following a mistake in identification, the soldier shot him,” the report said. Israeli army in this report in Hebrew.
Soldier posthumously promoted to staff sergeant
“Immediately after the shot, the soldier who fired the shot realized that there had been a misidentification and reported the incident to his commanders who called for medical attention,” continues the army saying that the Franco-Israeli soldier had been pronounced dead in hospital after “resuscitation efforts” on the spot.
Sergeant Natan Fitoussi was posthumously promoted to staff sergeant, the army said, while Prime Minister Yair Lapid hailed his memory as a soldier and sent his condolences to his family. Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 by the Israeli army, the West Bank is the frequent scene of clashes and raids.