Five IDF soldiers injured by "friendly fire" in Gaza
By israelinsider staff and partners August 14, 2005
After Palestinian terrorists in the town of Dir al-Balah opened fire on the Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom in Gaza at around 3 a.m., an IDF crew, responding to the pre-dawn attack, inadvertently shelled an Israeli armored personnel carrier, seriously wounding an army officer and injuring four other soldiers. The disengagement plan will go ahead as planned, despite Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's initial refusal to evacuate under fire.
Ambulances evacuated the five soldiers to Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva. Two of the soldiers were released from hospital by 8 a.m.
IDF soldiers on the scene believe that a gunman was wounded by another shell.
In the wake of the incident, the IDF closed the Kissufim road to all traffic.
IDF Southern Front Commander Dan Harel called the tank fire "a very great failure." Settlers and rightists said the incident showed that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was reneging on repeated pledges that there would be no "evacuation under fire."
The incident comes one day before Israel is set to close off the Gaza Strip ahead of removing all 21 Jewish settlements from the territory. Large forces of police and soldiers are in the area for the operation.
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