The Israeli military death toll rose to 64 after Israel announced that Hadar Goldin, a 23-year-old infantry lieutenant feared captured in Gaza, was actually killed in battle. His funeral is later Sunday. Three civilians have been killed on the Israeli side since hostilities began.
Israel had earlier said it feared Goldin had been captured by Hamas militants alongside two other soldiers who were killed Friday near Rafah in an ambush that was followed by heavy shelling that left dozens of Palestinians dead.
Large swaths of Gaza have been destroyed and some 250,000 people have been forced to flee their homes since the war began.
[...]
In nearly four weeks of fighting, more than 1,700 Palestinians, mainly civilians, have been killed as well as nearly 70 Israelis, almost all soldiers.
alJazeera
Obviously, the IDF never investigated whether Goldin had been captured - or as they put it "kidnapped" - or killed, opting instead for the handy immediate excuse to slaughter more Palestinians.
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
UPDATE: As I read more info about this incident with Hadar Goldin, it appears that the IDF did know, and Hamas admitted, to capturing Goldin, but apparently, he was subsequently killed along with his captors. I am unable to ascertain how that occurred, whether by the Hamas soldiers or by the IDF accidentally.
UPDATE: 8/4
Following the capture of Israel Defence Forces (IDF) soldier Hadar Goldin, reports are circulating that the Israeli military may invoke the covert 'Hannibal Directive' to prevent the Second Lieutenant being used as critical leverage in the ongoing Gaza conflict. The controversial protocol, introduced in the late 1980s, allows IDF commanders to take any necessary action to foil an abduction of a soldier, even if it means endangering the life of the captive Israeli.
[...]
The protocol is founded on a fear that any captive Israeli will be used as a bargaining chip, like Shalit, who was held for five years before being released in return for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners.
[...]
"In certain senses, with all the pain that saying this entails, an abducted soldier, in contrast to a soldier who has been killed, is a national problem," [Shaul Mofaz, former IDF Chief of Staff,] told Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth.
IBTimes
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