IDF dismisses, censures several Duvdevan commanders over friendly fire incident

Several commanders in the IDF’s Duvdevan commando unit have been dismissed or censured over an incident this month in which troops mistakenly opened fire on their comrades during a raid in the West Bank.

According to the IDF, on January 11, Duvdevan commandos operated in Nablus to detain Palestinians suspected of terror activity. During the raid, the military says one group of soldiers mistakenly identified another team from the same unit on the roof of a building as an armed enemy force and opened fire on the structure.

The army says that there were no injuries in the incident.

The friendly fire was reported immediately, and an investigation was launched, the results of which were recently presented to Central Command chief, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, the IDF says.

“From the investigation it emerged that due to a navigation error, a force of troops that mistakenly positioned itself in a building located in the sector of a neighboring squadron operating in the operation was identified as the enemy,” the military says, adding that the probe showed that the troops were not in the line of fire of the other soldiers, and aside from gunfire toward the building, no other means were used.

The IDF says that a series of lessons were implemented in the unit, alongside “a tightening of operational instructions and procedures.”

The army says that several Duvdevan commanders “who had a direct connection” to the incident would be reprimanded or removed from their roles, “in light of the deviations from the expected standard of performance that led to the incident.”

Among those dismissed from their roles are a team commander and a team sergeant, the latter of whom opened fire against regulations.

The deputy commander of Duvdevan, a squadron commander, a deputy squadron commander, another team commander, and one additional soldier were all formally censured by their superiors.