IDF fires in error, kills 2 Hamas snipers
Gunmen were training in Gaza • Israel will ‘ pay a price,’ terrorist group says
The IDF acknowledged that a Hamas shooting that led to a deadly IDF retaliatory strike earlier on Tuesday did not target the army’s troops.
Two Hamas snipers were killed near Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip when an IDF patrol shelled their position.
Maj.- Gen. Herzi Halevi, the head of the army’s Southern Command, concluded the IDF strike was made in error, as the gunmen, part of Hamas’s naval commando unit, were not shooting – as the army believed in real- time – at a border fence patrol by the Rotem Battalion of the Givati infantry brigade. The shooting was part of a drill being observed by senior Hamas leaders in the northern Gaza Strip.
The army sent messages to Hamas via Egypt acknowledging the error, but insisted that retaliatory fire on IDF troops would not be tolerated.
Earlier, the IDF had described the shelling as return fire for a shooting attack against its forces, an account immediately disputed by the Palestinian Islamist group.
The two men killed were Hamas snipers taking part in a live- fire exercise within a compound on Gazan territory. It deemed Israel’s shelling of them a “criminal act.”
“This is a serious incident that will have serious consequences, and in Israel they will not be able to sleep peacefully – and their attack will not pass without them paying a price,” the terrorist group said.
The military released footage that it said was of the incident. One of the grainy black and white video clips shows two men in a watchtower, one appears to open fire as puffs of smoke burst in front of him. The video then cuts to separate footage of a shell hitting the post and an explosion.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the two as Ahmad Morjan and Abed el- Hafeth el- Sillawi, both 23, and members of Hamas’s military wing, the Izzadin al- Qassam Brigades. Six more terrorists were reported to have been wounded in the shelling. No Israeli troops were hurt in the incident.
“The IDF will act against any offense and every attempt to attack our forces, and considers the Hamas terrorist organization as responsible for everything happening in and out of the Gaza Strip,” the army said.
The incident took place while a delegation of senior Hamas officials led by Hamas deputy chairman Saleh al- Arouri is in the Gaza Strip to discuss an Egypt- brokered cease- fire agreement with Israel.
The security cabinet announced on Tuesday it will convene for a special discussion on Thursday afternoon.
It also met Sunday to discuss the proposed cease- fire agreement, after which the Prime Minister’s Office released a statement saying the IDF was ready for any eventuality.
Despite the cease- fire talks, the continued launch of aerial incendiary devices has ignited dozens of fires in the South. In response, IDF aircraft have continued to strike cells launching the devices, most recently on Monday.
Hundreds of incendiary devices have been hurtled toward Israel since late March when Gazans began weekly protests along the border with Israel.
The border protests have been the most significant threat to Israeli security in the region since Operation Protective Edge in 2014, due to the combination of terror tunnels, riots, attempted infiltrations and use of incendiary items.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, 157 Gazans have been killed since the start of the weekly “March of Return” on March 30. One IDF soldier was killed by a Gaza sniper.