More than four months have passed since the border fighter, the late Bar-El Hadaria-Shmueli, fell on the Gaza Strip border and only now, after begging and threats from his family to turn to the High Court, has the army given her an investigation into the incident. Which were known in advance - such as the decision not to withdraw the forces despite attempts to steal weapons from the fighters - and even noted in the affirmative the brigade commander who chose not to withdraw the fighters.
The interrogation was presented to the family today (Monday) in a charged and tense meeting with the commander of the Gaza Division, Brigadier General Nimrod Aloni, and at the end Hila, Bar-El's sister, said: "We came out disappointed, broken and in pain.
"The IDF is investigating itself and praising its commanders. It did not find a material failure, even though there were many omissions in this incident. An event from which no sharp conclusions are drawn will lead to the next event, the next disaster."
As mentioned, the late Hadaria-Shmueli, an outstanding YMS (undercover unit) fighter in the Border Police, was shot from zero range by a Palestinian terrorist on the Gaza border on Saturday, August 21. Nine days later, he died of his wounds. The interrogation given to the family did not He renewed a lot, stating that the plan to settle on the barrier on the Gaza border, when the rioters were close, was a "professional mistake in retrospect," as was the decision to stay near the wall after the arms hijacking attempts and the attack on the late Bar-El.
The investigation shows that on the same day, at approximately 5:20 PM, a rapid descent of about 500 rioters began from the Karni focus area on the Gaza side, and the "Harrison line" began to break through.
At the same time, IDF forces moved to the barrier area in two stages. At 17:28, rioters arrived at the barrier area and were deployed along it. One hundred rioters clung to the barrier and then began a violent riot, which according to the military investigation included the use of explosives and grenades. For kidnapping weapons.
Between 18:00 and 18:15, two attempts were made to steal weapons, which were met with a response shot by the HMS force. And injury was identified. At 6:18 p.m., a terrorist came to the slit and twice fired his pistol into the slit. The late Bar-El fell, and the commander of the place reported a head injury. At 18:23 the medical force joined the wounded man and began initial treatment at the scene, and only at 19:15 did Hadaria-Shmueli arrive at Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva - 57 minutes from the moment he was injured.
The findings of the IDF investigation, which was published four months after his death, found that "the decision to move and settle on the obstacle according to the plan, based on past experience and intelligence information, when the rioters are close to it and its disadvantages outweigh its advantages."
The rioters' use of firearms and lethal weapons near the "Wall of Oz" was unexpected, "the investigation said. "Where our forces have an advantage is a mistake."
However, and despite the family's claims, the military investigation found that "the fire policy and the opening fire regulations allowed freedom of action to harm major rioters and instigators, and evidence showed a more significant amount of gunfire compared to previous riots."
The IDF made an effort to present the "noteworthy" points, including "professionalism and striving for contact" of the CBS fighters and their commanders, the CBS sniper and Magellan sniper operation that was "professional throughout the incident and complied with the force's use policy and opening fire regulations."
In addition, the "medical evacuation and effectiveness of medical care" as well as "the commanders who acted in the arena, including the commander of the northern brigade who was present with his fighters on the wall of Oz during the incident, demonstrated remarkable composure and self-control."
This, despite the harsh criticism leveled at that brigadier general, Colonel Yoav Brunner, as he was the one who made the decision not to withdraw the forces from the fence. Despite the harsh criticism of him, he was even appointed commander of the paratroopers' brigade.
The family of the late Hadaria-Shmueli said, through attorney Ran Cohen Rochberger, that "the military investigation presented to us this morning not only did not renew anything for us, but was a way for the IDF to close the difficult and painful event - by a casual statement about Error here and error there.
Our Bar-El, a border fighter, was killed for no reason and for the IDF this is just a mistake.
"The commander of the Northern Brigade failed in the moment of truth. He did not make the obligatory decision for an entire hour, in which there are masses of rioting Palestinians close to the fence that pose a life risk to the forces; he did not act to evacuate the rioters." Ended in one death and not the most.If it is not a failure, then we do not know what is.
"At the end of the day, Bar-El and the fighters had no means of dealing with the incident. They left him there exposed to injury and death so unnecessary. A commendation. This is a day that breaks our hearts. "
Brigadier General Aloni announced after the meeting: "I met this morning with the family members of the late Bar-El to present them the full investigation, after the initial investigation that we presented two weeks after his death. We do not have a confrontation with the family, the investigation is just what we learned from the matter. We share in their deep pain, and that was also part of the matter. Despite the complexity in front of the family, it is important to keep wrapping them. In training.
"We all saw the details of the event itself - today, the incident on the fence - when the crowd, or several dozen, are on the wall itself - this is a wrong preparation. We have also been wrong in the past, and this is a mistake that should not happen. The matter.The disturbances are not managed from the wall itself but from back positions we have set up.
"The second mistake is to stay on the wall - the forces felt life-threatening and fired in order to remove life-threatening. Staying on the wall at this point in time - a notable disadvantage - has to do with not moving backwards in order." "Next, we improved the positions in the Karni area with the construction of more high wires. There is a whole staff work that will be completed these days, where the Seam and Boundaries Administration will destroy the old Karni crossing and build a new wall there that will help with disturbances."
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