IDF probe finds ‘no negligence’ by troops in accidental killing of farmer in north last week

An IDF investigation finds that there was “no negligence” by troops who fired artillery shells at an Israeli border community last week, accidentally killing Ofer Moskovitz.

During the incident on March 22, an artillery battery positioned in Israel fired five shells that struck Kibbutz Misgav Am, instead of a target in southern Lebanon, killing the 60-year-old farmer.

An investigation into the incident, headed by Artillery Corps chief Brig. Gen. Ehud Bibi, was recently completed and presented earlier today to Moskovitz’s family, the army says.

According to the probe, the artillery shelling “was carried out during an operational event in close support of our maneuvering forces,” and that the errant fire was the result of “a convergence of several operational variables and non-optimal firing conditions.”

“No negligence was found, and no ethical failure was identified on the part of those involved in the firing process in the battery,” the IDF says.

As part of lessons drawn from the incident, Ground Forces chief Maj. Gen. Nadav Lotan has ordered the issuance of a new “operational directive addressing artillery fire over communities and civilian facilities.”

The IDF says this directive will be “stricter” than the one currently in place.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir was also presented with the investigation, saying it is a “difficult and tragic incident” from which lessons “must be learned and implemented promptly.”

“This is a difficult and tragic incident in which an Israeli civilian, Ofer ‘Poshko’ Moskovitz, a man of the north and one of the pillars of the Misgav Am community, was killed as a result of IDF fire,” says Zamir in remarks published by the IDF.

“The battalion and the battery have been operating since the beginning of the campaign continuously and professionally to remove the threat [of Hezbollah] and strike enemy targets,” he says.

Zamir says that the deadly incident resulted from a “convergence of several factors, including aspects of the firing calculation system, terrain conditions, and an error in topographical calculations.”

“This is an incident that requires lessons to be learned. We must examine and sharpen all safety components, particularly the manner of deployment and use of fire near communities, to prevent risk to our civilians. We will draw the necessary lessons and continue to act responsibly to keep protecting the residents of the north,” he says, adding that “the IDF expresses deep sorrow to the family and the community.”