IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot on Tuesday instructed a team of top military officials to investigate a top secret Nov. 11 incident in which a high-ranking Israeli officer was killed in Gaza.
Eizenkot appointed Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon to head the investigative team. Alon, formerly the IDF's GOC Central Command, now heads the efforts to combat the Iranian threat.
On Nov. 11, an elite Israeli force launched a top secret operation inside Gaza. They were discovered by Hamas operatives and a clash ensued. Not many details of the clash have been released for publication, but it has emerged that Lt. Col. M., whose identity is still kept secret, died heroically while drawing fire away from his comrades. Another officer was seriously wounded while trying to assist M.
The operation ended with a complex extraction mission. A number of Hamas operatives were killed in the clash.
After the operation, Hamas put on public display items it said were left behind by the Israeli soldiers. Last week, the Palestinian organization published photos of the Israeli soldiers it said took part in the covert operation.
The Israeli military launched an internal investigation immediately after the botched operation to determine what had gone wrong and to try to minimize the damage.
But Eizenkot decided to establish a parallel investigative team to thoroughly examine and study the incident and draw the necessary conclusions in terms of cooperation between the different military wings. The team's work will include an examination of the internal investigation's conclusions and recommendations.
