IDF will set up expert panel to probe Gaza drone accident that killed two reservists

By Emanuel Fabian

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Today, 10:19 am

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Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has ordered the establishment of an expert panel to investigate the deadly “safety incident” in the Gaza Strip yesterday, in which two reservists were killed by a crashed military drone.

The team will be headed by a brigadier general from the Ground Forces, and it will “examine the circumstances of the incident in order to prevent similar incidents from recurring in the future,” the army says.

An initial IDF probe found that after the explosive drone crashed inside an army post, the soldiers operating it approached it and picked it up before it exploded, killing Master Sgt. (res.) Nadav Kali and Master Sgt. (res.) Ofek Moalem.

Meanwhile, the chief of the Ground Forces, Maj. Gen. Nadav Lotan, ordered that such drones be grounded for at least 48 hours amid the investigation. Following that, a new assessment will be held, the military says.