Senior officer censured for allowing unauthorized visit to Lebanon’s Bint Jbeil

The commander of the Givati Brigade, Col. Netanel Shamaka, has received a formal censure for allowing four soldiers to enter the southern Lebanon town of Bint Jbeil for “non-operational purposes” last month.

The military says the incident was investigated and presented to the relevant commanders, and it was decided by the chief of the Northern Command, Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo, to mark Shamaka’s permanent record over the unauthorized visit.

The four troops — three reservists and one soldier from the standing army — are bereaved family members whose relatives were killed in Bint Jbeil in previous wars.

During the ceasefire in Lebanon, Shamaka allowed the four to enter Bint Jbeil to recite Kaddish, the mourner’s prayer, even though Hezbollah operatives were still holed up in the town.