Ambulance Driver Testifies Yovel Kastelman Was Conscious When Evacuated After Shooting Incident

The military trial of reservist Aviyad Frigeh, accused of fatally shooting Yovel Kastelman after mistakenly identifying him as a terrorist during an attack near Jerusalem two and a half years ago, continues. On May 7, 2026, ambulance driver Eran Petski testified at the military court in Beit Lid, stating that Kastelman was evacuated from the scene alive and fully conscious. Although Kastelman could not speak due to a jaw injury, he communicated with medical staff through body language, indicating pain in his face.

Petski also recounted finding a black coat in the ambulance after Kastelman's evacuation, which neither he nor the medical team could identify. He observed someone throwing an item into the ambulance during the evacuation of another victim but did not recognize the coat as the one Kastelman wore, which appeared blue in security footage. This testimony challenges the military prosecution's claim that the absence of bullet holes in the coat proves Kastelman was shot after removing it to signal he was not a terrorist.

Frigeh's defense argues that the coat tested by forensic experts does not belong to Kastelman but to an unknown individual, undermining the prosecution's timeline of the shooting. They assert that Petski's testimony disproves the allegation of a "confirmation of killing" at the scene, emphasizing that Kastelman was alive and responsive when evacuated but died hours later in the hospital. The defense calls the indictment a grave injustice and urges the Military Advocate General to reconsider the case, maintaining that Frigeh acted in good faith under combat conditions and that the shooting was a tragic misidentification.

The trial continues amid these conflicting accounts, with the defense seeking dismissal of the charges based on the new evidence presented.