A senior IDF officer was seriously injured in a live-fire training urban combat exercise near Kibbutz Tze’elim in southern Israel on Wednesday, an IDF spokesperson stated.

The officer, in his 40s, was airlifted to Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva where he underwent emergency surgery and was hospitalized in the ICU. His condition has improved as of Thursday morning and he is now conscious and breathing without assistance, a hospital spokesperson stated.

The Military Police have opened an investigation into the incident and meanwhile the head of the IDF’s Training and Doctrine Division, Maj. Gen. Moti Baruch, made a decision to halt firearms training until the investigation is complete.

“An IDF officer was seriously injured on Wednesday from the fire of another officer’s weapon during a military training exercise for battalion commanders in the south of Israel,” the IDF statement said. “The officer was evacuated to the hospital for medical treatment and his family was informed.”

An initial investigation found that the officer, a lieutenant colonel, crossed the line of fire during the exercise and was accidentally shot in the stomach by another officer.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)