The IDF opened an investigation following the tragic incident on Shabbos, when a Border Police officer was critically injured after a Gazan Arab shot him in his head from point-blank range through a hole in the border wall.
The officer, Barel Shmueli, is an only child and is still in critical condition in Soroka Hospital. He was scheduled to be discharged from the army in only two months and was not even supposed to be at the border on Shabbos but was sent there in place of another soldier.
Barel’s mother has harsh questions for the IDF about how the Arabs were allowed to get so close to the border. “A terrorist shot my son from point-blank range while our soldiers are banned from firing at them,” she said on Israeli radio on Monday. “Why did they send my son? Why? I want an answer.”
The IDF was aware that the Arabs were planning to riot on Shabbos but were caught by surprise by the intensity of the riot. The Arabs normally riot at somewhat of a distance from the border wall and the Hamas’ “restraining force” normally prevent the Arabs from coming close to the wall.
But this time, dozens of Arabs suddenly rushed to the security wall, to an area behind where Shmueli was positioned as a sniper. In normal times, when the Arabs are at a distance from the border, the wall serves as a defense for snipers, who fire through a small opening in the wall. However, if the Arabs are next to the wall, like what happened on Shabbos, the snipers are left vulnerable to unseen attacks.
The IDF said that the rioters reached the wall extremely quickly and caught Shmueli and the other soldiers without time to prepare, despite the surveillance equipment available to them.
The Arab who shot Shmueli is thought to be a Hamas terrorist and the IDF believes that the entire scenario was orchestrated by Hamas.
The IDF said that the soldiers did not immediately open fire at the terrorists due to fear of hitting the civilians in the area.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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One Response
Don’t send your kids to an army that’s not only anti Torah,pro gay. But does not allow soldiers to properly defend themselves. The fat cats in government only care about staying in power. They care zero about the young soldiers.