Intense controversy and criticism was directed on Thursday at the IDF’s rules of engagement, after it was reported that soldiers waited to fired upon, before opening fire on the terrorists who attempted to invade Israel from the Rafah area. An IDF soldier was killed in the incident.
The IDF stated: “The IDF force that carried out scans in the area of the fence identified a number of suspects who approached the border from the Gaza Strip and moved towards Israeli territory in an attempt to cross the barrier area in the Rafah area. The force that carried out scans in the area encountered the terrorists who opened fire on them, and fired back at the terrorists.”
Almog Boker of Channel 13 News wondered why the air force did not launch a strike against the terrorists and thereby prevent the death of Warrant Officer Zeed Mazarib.
Boker wrote: “If it wasn’t clear until today, and it’s sad that it was, it must be clear from now on: Every Gazan who approaches the fence, and I don’t care if he is ‘involved’ or ‘uninvolved’, should understand that he is not coming home. Attack from the air and end the incident.”
He continued saying: “We should not endanger our forces. Attack from the air. Destroy them. Today we paid a heavy price for [not doing] it. No more. What exactly are we waiting for? For the squad armed with Kalashnikovs and RPGs to arrive in a town and murder more residents. It’s either them or us. Shouldn’t this have been clear already???”
Ofra Lax, another journalist, wrote: “I’ve been racking my head since this morning about the IDF spokesperson’s announcement that the terrorists opened fire on them first. The instructions on opening fire are shocking. They were never appropriate for the Gaza border and today they certainly aren’t.”
{Matzav.com}
