Jerusalem, 14 June, 2023 (TPS) — An investigation into the deadly attack at the Egyptian border earlier this month has resulted in the dismissal of a senior Israel Defense Forces officer.
Col. Ido Sa’ad, commander of the Paran Brigade, will be reassigned to another position for his “overall responsibility for the event and the manner by which operations are carried out in his area.”
On June 3, Egyptian police officer Mohamed Salah Ibrahim, 22, shot dead Sgt. Lia Ben-Nun, 19, and Staff Sgt. Uri Iluz, 20, while they were manning an observation post near the border.
Staff Sgt. Ohad Dahan, 20, was killed in Israeli territory in an exchange of fire with the terrorist, who was also fatally shot.
The findings of the military probe were published on Tuesday, highlighting a number of failures that led to the deadly incident.
For example, an emergency crossing at the border barrier was used by the terrorist to infiltrate into Israeli territory. It was unknown to soldiers stationed in the area and was held shut only by zip ties, which the terrorist cut with a knife.
The report also criticized commanders for having soldiers on guard duty for 12 hours, as well as an army tracker who mistakenly assessed that the terrorist had returned to Egypt.
Division and battalion commanders were also reprimanded.
IDF Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Eliezer Toledano and the commander of the 80th Division, Brig. Gen. Itzik Cohen, carried out the investigation, which was presented on Tuesday to IDF chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi.
“We conducted a thorough and in-depth investigation, out of the commanders’ responsibility to maintain the security and lives of their subordinates,” Halevi said at the Knesset.
“Along with quality work, initiative and successes, we also found operational and command faults and gaps; We will study them, fix and improve.
“This is a difficult event, which could and should have been prevented, and this is our responsibility as commanders, and mine as commander of the army first and foremost—to learn lessons and be better.”