IDF rescues 4 off-duty soldiers from Palestinian area of West Bank
Fifth time this year troops have mistakenly strayed into territory not under Israeli control
The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday pulled four of its soldiers out of a Palestinian Authority-controlled area of the West Bank they apparently entered in error. The four were on leave from the army when the incident occurred.
The troops were extricated without incident from an area near Halhul, just north of the city of Hebron, while visiting a local natural spring.
The IDF has opened an investigation into the latest in a series of occurrences in which Israeli soldiers have erroneously strayed into Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank in recent months.
Each time, the IDF repeats the importance of not relying solely on traffic navigation apps such as Waze.
In the most serious incident so far, in February, one Palestinian was killed and several injured in clashes in the Qalandiya refugee camp near Jerusalem sparked by an attempt to rescue lost soldiers.
Earlier this month, the army rescued two soldiers who had accidentally entered the West Bank Palestinian village of Dura, near Hebron.
In September, two female soldiers entered Tulkarem and sustained mild injuries from rocks thrown at them before they were rescued by local Palestinian police and Defense Ministry officials. An initial probe of that incident revealed not only that the two soldiers had relied on a navigation app, but that they had entered Tulkarem unarmed.
And in April, two soldiers managed to drive out of the village of Beit Fajjar, south of Jerusalem, unharmed after being pelted with rocks by local residents.
The Times of Israel Community.