Thought To Be A Hamas Fighter, Israeli Metal Band Drummer Persephore Killed By IDF

Yotam Haim, the drummer for Israel's heavy metal band, Persephore, was killed by IDF (Instagram @persephore)

JAKARTA - Yotam Haim, the drummer for Israel's heavy metal band, Persephore, was killed by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on Friday, December 15, after being mistaken for Hamas fighters.

Three Israeli hostages were killed by IDF soldiers in Gaza when a soldier felt threatened and identified them as terrorists' before firing a shot, according to BBC News.

The men, all in their 20s, were killed in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City and used food remains to write signs of request for assistance, according to an anonymously speaking Israeli military official.

They were reportedly at a distance of tens of meters from the army, and came out of a shirtless building, where one of them carried a stick attached to a white cloth.

The IDF said it expressed deep regret over the incident and expressed sincere condolences to the family.

Haim, 28, was supposed to have performed with his band at a music festival in Tel Aviv on October 7, the same day Hamas forces launched a sudden attack across the border in southern Israel.

On December 10, about 18,000 Palestinians were killed and another 49,500 injured in an Israeli retaliatory attack, according to a spokesman for the Gaza Ministry of Health (via Reuters).