New details were published on Wednesday evening on Kan News regarding the Puma APC disaster in Khan Younis, in which seven soldiers were killed by the explosion of a bomb thrown by a terrorist into the IDF vehicle.
According to chilling details revealed in the IDF’s internal investigation, the APC’s exit hatch was broken. The soldiers tied it with a rope, leaving it open, and the terrorist threw the bomb into the vehicle through the opening.
In addition, the cameras on the APC had not been working for a long period. Soldiers testified that the commanders knew about the malfunctions, but no action was taken to improve the situation.
A father of a soldier in the battalion said last week that the soldiers were using outdated equipment without perimeter cameras due to budgetary concerns.
“It’s the only battalion with old Puma vehicles, which are outdated,” he said. “Other battalions use Namer APCs. The vehicles are so old that every few weeks the engine has to be replaced.”
Parents of soldiers in the battalion sent a letter to the battalion commander last week, stating, “We are shaken and appalled by the recklessness that has been revealed in all its force in the serious and horrifying event in which we lost seven precious soldiers, whom we entrusted to you, due to gross negligence. It is inconceivable that the battalion under your command is the only one in the IDF that still uses old and faulty equipment lacking the protection that all other infantry battalions routinely receive, including the rest of the engineering battalions.”
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
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7 Responses
Such an amazingly sad story! שיתנחמו מן שמים
Why is this surprising? Many private fundraising groups have been supplying the IDF soldiers with updated equipment such as drones and helmets since a lot the IDF equipment is old and outdated. People have been saying this is a lie since the beginning of the war, and now unfortunately the truth has come to light. This is unacceptable. And they’re still recruiting thousands with inadequate supplies. Israel’s blood is not Hefker!
@shomershabtai: have private individuals contributed tanks or apcs? or just flak jackets that don’t meet idf standards?
Donations have included helmets that have proved to save lives. (Soldiers were complaining of old broken helmets from the ‘67 war. I’ve personally seen the pictures.) There is also a fund from a city in NJ who raised money for drones. One of those drones actually located Sinwar Ym”s in a building they thought was empty. The stories and funds are out there. I’m happy to share them on this forum. I can show letters and videos of thankful soldiers. Unfortunately the need is great but people are misinformed and/or biased by their own naive opinions about what is happening on the front lines.
Part of the reason for there being a shortfall in army equipment was the fact that Israel did not have a budget for several years due to Netanyahu’s political machinations. The IDF had identified a need for new equipment and updated priorities – but without new legislation that allocated funds for those new priorities, the old budget, without those allocations, just rolled over – and funds could not be reallocated without legislative authority.
That is one of the main reasons many feel Netanyahu has to go – he put his own political needs ahead of those of the country. It does not matter whether he’s innocent or guilty in his criminal case – it matters that his priority was no longer what was best for the country.
an Israeli Yid
And this is one of the proofs that the army drafts are politically motivated as they don’t even have enough updated equipment for all of their troops. Hashem should watch over them and protect them.
I dont think any troops have should have been in gaza in the past year. just nuke the place. many more troops have died than hostages that will ever come out