GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — In a move unprecedented in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Israeli army has admitted it mistakenly killed a Hamas member near the Israeli border in the north of the Gaza Strip on July 11.
Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee tweeted July 11, “In the morning, an [Israeli] unit detected the presence of several Palestinians at the border fence area in the north of the Gaza Strip. Preliminary investigations show that an operative in the Hamas-affiliated field control unit arrived in the area following Palestinian movement adjacent to him, and it later appeared that the [Israeli] unit mistook him for an armed vandal and shot him down due to this misunderstanding. More will follow about the investigation.”