Israeli heavy metal drummer of band Persephore accidentally killed by IDF after being mistaken for Hamas terrorist

Yotam Haim, the drummer for Israeli heavy metal band Persephore, was killed by the Israel Defense Force on Friday (December 15) after being mistaken for a Hamas fighter.

Three Israeli hostages were killed by IDF soldiers in Gaza when a soldier felt threatened and identified them as “terrorists” before opening fire, according to BBC News.

The men, all aged in their 20s, were killed in the Shejaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City and had used leftover food to write signs pleading for help, according to an Israeli military official who spoke anonymously.

They were reportedly at a distance of tens of metres away from the soldiers, and had emerged shirtless from a building, where one was carrying a stick with a white cloth attached.

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

Haim, 28, was supposed to perform with his band at a music festival in Tel Aviv on October 7, the same day that Hamas forces launched a surprise attack across the border in southern Israel where around 1,200 people were killed and roughly 240 others were taken hostage.

As of December 10, around 18,000 Palestinians had been killed and 49,500 injured in Israeli’s retaliatory attacks, according to a Gaza health ministry spokesman (via Reuters).

Fighting resumed between Israel and Hamas earlier this month after a seven-day ceasefire. Numerous figures from the entertainment world have called for an immediate ceasefire throughout the conflict.

Dua Lipa, Michael Stipe and Cate Blanchett and more signed open letter in October calling on Joe Biden for a ceasefire.

Over 4000 artists then came together to sign a letter under the collective Musicians for Palestine with Pulp, Lucy Dacus, Sleater-Kinney and more calling for a ceasefire.

“We speak out together in solidarity with the Palestinian people’s struggle for freedom, justice and equal rights,” read the letter. “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.”