Five Israeli Defense Forces soldiers died this Wednesday due to friendly fire. Seven others were injured in the same incident that occurred in the city of Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip.

With these five casualties, the total number of Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza since the start of the ground invasion stands at 278. At least 49 of these deaths have been caused by friendly fire. There are also 1,712 soldiers who have received injuries so far in the conflict, 338 of them catagorized as serious.

These last victims belonged to the 202nd Battalion of the Parachute Brigade. They were part of a Haredi company. All were between 20 and 22 years old.

According to the IDF, the soldiers' deaths occurred when an Israeli tank opened fire twice on a building where the soldiers were located. The soldiers had set up a surveillance post in said building.

Although the paratroopers had correctly reported their entry into the building in the city of Jabaliya, one of the operators of the tank involved in the accident saw the barrel of a gun in a window of the building. He mistook it for an enemy and the Israeli tank opened fire on said position.