An Israeli soldier was lightly hurt after the weapon of one of his comrades "unintentionally discharged" at him early Thursday as IDF forces secured a Jewish pilgrimage to a shrine in the West Bank city of Nablus.
According to an Initial IDF investigation, the incident occurred as forces were headed to the gravesite in an armored vehicle. One of the soldiers apparently had an accidental discharge while attempting to unload his weapon, hitting his comrade in the chest.
The soldier sustained light injuries thanks to the ceramic body armor he was wearing, which absorbed most of the impact.
The IDF Spokesperson's Unit said there were no other injuries in the incident and that it was being investigated.
This comes just three days after 20-year-old Staff Sergeant Nathan Fitoussi was killed by friendly fire near the West Bank city of Tulkarm, as he returned to a guard post from prayer and was misidentified as hostile.
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The funeral of 20-year-old Staff Sergeant Natan Fitoussi
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit, Yair Sagi)
According to the Israeli army’s initial probe into the incident, the shooting soldier followed the military’s rules of engagement – which include shouting at the suspect to halt, firing in the air, firing toward the suspect's lower body and only using deadly force in case of an immediate threat.
It was unclear why Fitoussi was misidentified as a threat. The military probe is seeking to determine how the incident unfolded, why the shooter mistook Fitoussi to be hostile, and why Fitoussi didn’t stop or follow his comrade’s orders to identify himself.
Lawyers representing the soldier who shot and killed Fitoussi urged the Military Police on Wednesday to cease its ongoing investigation due to the "mental distress" he was experiencing.