IOF to Probe Botched Special Forces Operation in Gaza
Local Editor
The “Israel” Occupation Forces [IOF] announced Tuesday that it had launched two separate investigations into a botched Special Forces operation in the besieged Gaza Strip earlier this month that resulted in the death of an elite “Israeli” soldier and martyrdom of seven Palestinians and sparked the most severe escalation in violence between the sides since a 2014 war.
The IOF said in a statement that the findings of a preliminary investigation into the November 11 raid east of Khan Yunis in the central Gaza Strip would be presented in the coming weeks to the head of the Intelligence Directorate and IOF Chief of the General Staff Gadi Eizenkot.
Furthermore, a wider investigation into how the army conducts such covert raids would be launched by the former head of IOF Operations Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon who has been ordered to “examine and study the challenges and [make] recommendations at the level of the General Staff, of multiple army branches and of the inter-organizational cooperation between different special forces,” the army said.
The covert Special Forces operation was exposed after a gun battle with local Hamas fighters erupted during what the IOF later described as an “intelligence-gathering mission”.
An IOF spokesperson revealed the following day that a Special Forces unit in Gaza had become "trapped in a highly complex situation" but responded "heroically" and managed to extract themselves to “Israeli” occupied territory under aerial cover fire.
One “Israeli” soldier was killed in the incident, in addition to the martyrdom of seven Palestinians, including a senior Hamas military commander. Details of the raid, including the full identity of the officer killed during the mission, remain subject to military censor.
Hamas, which said that the “Israeli” mission had been intended to plant listening devices in its territory, last week published details of the raid including pictures of “Israeli” operatives who took part in it.
Re-publication of the Hamas-circulated details was barred by the entity’s military censor.
Hamas, meanwhile, has launched their own investigation into the incident which caused the martyrdom of a senior member of its militant wing.
A transcript of recordings of Hamas radio chatter obtained by the entity’s Hadashot news earlier this month, suggested that the ODF force was first flagged by a Hamas patrol who identified a "blue Volkswagen...driving suspiciously and very fast."
After being trailed by Hamas security officials and chased through the streets of Khan Yunis, someone opens fire, according to an account of the events provided by Hadashot.
The Hadashot report says it is at this point, during an exchange of gunfire, that a soldier identified only as Lt. Col. "M" is fatally shot. An “Israeli” helicopter then strikes the Hamas forces' vehicle, while on the ground, another “Israeli” soldier is wounded by gunfire as he retrieves his comrade's body and flees with the rest of his force to an extraction point.
The dramatic episode sparked a massive two-day bombardment in which nearly 500 rockets were fired by Gaza fighters into the “Israeli” entity in the most severe flare-up in violence between Gaza and “Israel” since a 2014 war between the sides.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
