IDF Captain Tal Nachman, 21, from Ness Ziona was shot dead by friendly fire early Tuesday morning after being mistaken for a terrorist near the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip.
The incident occurred during a routine security operation on the border with northern Gaza, in which a Combat Intelligence Collection unit set up a mobile observation post in an armored personnel carrier that is especially designed for surveillance.
During one of the security patrols, at around two a.m. on Tuesday morning, a Givati soldier identified what he believed to be suspicious movement on top of the APC containing the Combat Intelligence Collection soldiers. According to an initial IDF investigation, the movement was caused by an intelligence officer who descended into the APC's cabin to fetch an object.At the same time, soldiers from the Givati Brigade's Reconnaissance Battalion were in the area, in a separate armored personnel carrier, from which they launched occasional foot patrols.
The soldier initiated a procedure to arrest security suspects, during which he opened fire at the officer, believing him to be a terrorist who was trying to get into the APC.
The shots, fired from a range of ten to twelve meters, struck Nachman who was sleeping on the APC's top deck. The sleeping officer was fully equipped with protective body gear, in accordance with regulations, the IDF has found. Nevertheless, he was struck in the back, and evacuated to hospital, where he died of his injuries.
"Tal was killed by friendly fire for nothing," Nachman's father Nasi told Army Radio. "A soldier from Givati shot him by accident. It wasn't even in war. I guess God had other plans. Our greatest fear was to become a bereaved family, but the statistics caught up with us."
"Tal was the baby of the family," he added. "We were so proud of him. I guess we didn't take good enough care of him."
His father described him as a gifted student who followed his brother into the intelligence reconnaissance unit. Nachman was in the process of training to be a company commander, and Tuesday was to be his last day in Gaza before being transferred to a quieter area for training.
The Battalion Commander of the Combat Intelligence Collection unit involved in the friendly fire incident has visited the home of the bereaved family in Ness Ziona, and provided them with an account of what transpired.
IDF sources say a full investigation is underway that will closely examine the actions of the infantry soldier who opened fire.
Nachman was promoted to the rank of captain posthumously. He will be laid to rest on Tuesday at 3 p.m. in the military section of the Ness Ziona cemetery.
Last week, an explosive device was detonatedalong the southern portion of the security fence separating Israel from the Gaza Strip, the army said. No Israeli soldiers were injured.
Also on Tuesday morning, a Code Red missile alert siren sounded in Eshkol Regional Council near the Gaza Strip. No fallen missiles were located in the area.
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