Overview
- The IDF identified Staff Sgt. Ofri Yafe, 21, of the Paratroopers Reconnaissance Unit, as the soldier killed near Khan Younis, the fifth Israeli fatality in Gaza since the October 2025 ceasefire.
- A preliminary account says two Paratroopers teams misidentified each other around 2 a.m. in the “yellow line” during a search-and-clear mission, resulting in Israeli fire that killed him.
- The military opened an in-depth investigation into the incident, with findings still pending.
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly referred to the case as a friendly-fire death in a condolence message.
- Hundreds attended Yafe’s funeral in Hayogev, where his father offered forgiveness to the sniper and faulted national leaders over what he called purposeless missions.