IDF Fatally Shoots Persephore’s Drummer, Mistaking Him for Hamas Militant

Persephore's drummer Yotam Haim died on Friday (December 15) after the IDF wrongly thought he was a Hamas combatant.

BBC News reported that IDF troops shot and killed three Israeli captives in Gaza, who they “terrorists” when they felt endangered.

The anonymous Israeli military official said the men, in their 20s, were in Gaza City's Shejaiya area and had made signs with food scraps to ask for help.

They came out of a building without shirts, and one had a white cloth on a stick, tens of metres from the soldiers.

The IDF “expresses deep remorse over the incident and sends the families its heartfelt condolences”.

Haim, 28, had a gig with his band at a Tel Aviv music festival on October 7, the same day Hamas attacked Israel's south border unexpectedly, killing about 1,200 people and taking around 240 hostages.

According to a Gaza health ministry spokesman (via Reuters), Israeli's counterattacks had killed about 18,000 Palestinians and wounded 49,500 by December 10.

Israel and Hamas started fighting again this month after a week-long truce. Many celebrities have urged for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict.

In October, Dua Lipa, Michael Stipe, Cate Blanchett and others signed an open letter to Joe Biden for a ceasefire.

Then, over 4000 artists signed a letter as Musicians for Palestine with Pulp, Lucy Dacus, Sleater-Kinney and more for a ceasefire.

The letter said: “We speak out together in solidarity with the Palestinian people’s struggle for freedom, justice and equal rights.” “We uphold the freedom of grassroots activists and artists worldwide to advocate and engage in peaceful means to achieve accountability, to fight injustice, and to pursue freedom, a just peace, and dignity.”