Eli Assus, brother-in-law of Yaakov (Kobi) Avitan, the contractor who was killed by friendly fire in Gaza, spoke on Wednesday about the shooting incident and the tense situation that led up to it. "Two days earlier, there was an terrorist attempt to infiltrate the IDF post, so they raised the level of alert there. It was a mistake of identification – a soldier simply shot him," Assus told Kan Reshet Bet . Related articles: Yoseph Haddad's warning to Arabs of Judea and Samaria Israeli official: We're weighing bringing caravans into Gaza 'They are in chains, starving, suffering unimaginable torture' Hamas slams Trump: US must force Israel to keep agreement "He entered the post and found himself face-to-face with the soldier," Assus described what he was told by an IDF source, adding: "It was only a matter of a few seconds." He claimed that there was great confusion in the area following the return of Gaza residents to the northern Gaza Strip. "I was told that they called his name, but apparently he didn't hear them or there was a noise," which interrupted communication between the parties. According to Assus, Avitan had been working in Gaza for the past two weeks and had permission to enter the post on a regular basis – even though it was not included in his work area. On that day, Avitan got off the shovel he was working on and was not wearing his identification uniform. He added that the family had been hit by three disasters in the past six months, when Yaakov's father and grandfather passed away within a short time. "Everyone is shocked by the incident, especially since the family has experienced such a difficult time. Everyone was traumatized, still not recovering, and now they got another blow. This is a very difficult loss for the family. Everyone loved Eli." Avitan, 39, from Eilat, left behind a wife and three children, including a ten-month-old baby.