The Samaria Regional Brigade recently ordered fighters to refrain from firing at stone throwers unless they were endangering their lives. The reason: an incident in which a 10-year-old boy threw stones at soldiers and was wounded in the neck after a soldier fired at him.
The incident occurred this week in one of the villages in Samaria, when a violent disturbance broke out and the boy threw stones at the military force that was active at the time. One of the soldiers aimed to hit the boy in the legs, but hit him in the neck and severely wounded him.
IDF forces in Nablus (archive), photo: Reuters
As a result, the unit forbade firing at stone throwers, which enraged the fighters, who claimed that the stone throwers could endanger their lives. The IDF claims: "The rules of engagement have not changed. Temporarily, the rules for commanders are sharpened, and emphasis is given in order to professionalize the forces."
Shooting is permitted - when it is dangerous
Optical means are often lacking in the field, and the forces are forced to use the weapon's iron sights, which are less precise - which sometimes causes injury to the terrorists' upper body, even though the fighters are aimed at their knees. Perhaps this is why fighters in one of the units were recently instructed that only those carrying optical sights may fire at stone throwers.
IDF sources say that the battalion commander sharpened the instructions, while ordering not to open fire at stone throwers. According to them, the combatant in this case was not in mortal danger and there was no need to shoot, but in other cases it is possible to shoot when the stones endanger combatants or civilians.
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