An IDF officer was seriously hurt after being shot by another commander during a military exercise at the Tze'elim Army Base in southern Israel on Wednesday evening.
A preliminary investigation showed that the officer, who was in charge of a live-fire drill conducted with another unit, had advanced too far ahead of the rest of the forces. He became invisible to the naked eye due to surroundings in which the drill was held, which were supposed to mimic urban areas.
IDF officers at the hospital where the wounded was taken
(צילום: בראל אפרים )
As a result, the officer had found himself in the line of fire and was accidentally shot in the torso by another commander.
The army said although the incident occurred around 7pm, there was still sunlight outside, making the area visible to the troops as a whole.
The wounded, a lieutenant colonel in his 40s, was subsequently evacuated to Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva.
After undergoing surgery at the hospital trauma unit, the officer was moved to general intensive care.
The hospital reported on Thursday that his condition has improved overnight and he is now fully conscious and able to breathe on his own.
Maj. Gen. Moti Baruch, Head of Training Command, announced on Thursday that all live-fire training exercises at Tze'elim will be halted until the end of the investigation.
The victim was part of a special officer training course for company and regiment commanders. During this same course on Tuesday, several IDF officers were ambushed by Bedouin youths.
According to an IDF investigation, the officers chased after the youths after they tried to steal military equipment from the base's training area and were eventually surrounded by friends of the alleged thieves and several civilian jeeps.
A confrontation erupted between the two parties, with one of the officers, fearing for his life, shooting in the air to cause the group to step back.