The military investigation into the Sept. 1 Hezbollah missile strike on IDF vehicles and an IDF outpost near Avivim, on the northern border, has found a series of failures that may result in disciplinary action against several senior officers, Israel Hayom learned Tuesday.
The incident took place as the sector was on high alert over concerns that the Iranian-backed Shiite terrorist group would retaliate over a series of strikes in Lebanon, which foreign media reports attributed to Israel, most notably the drone strike that destroyed a Hezbollah complex devoted to the group's missile precision project, and the elimination its drone launching bases in the Syrian Golan.
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IDF deployment in the sector included reinforcing and diverting forces, military deception exercises, and explicit orders to the troops regarding restricted areas, something meant to prevent unnecessary flare-ups in the already volatile sector.
This included removing Israeli soldiers from several high-risk outposts, as well as barring the movement of military vehicles on several roads near the Israel-Lebanon border.
However, despite these strict instructions, an armored military ambulance carrying an army doctor and four soldiers entered the restricted area near Avivim. Hezbollah terrorists, who were lying in wait, spotted the vehicle and fired missiles at it.
Fortunately, the missiles missed the vehicle and no Israeli troops were hurt.
The IDF first believe that Hezbollah opted to miss their target on purpose so as to avoid escalation, but the investigations eventually debunked that assumption, concluding that the fortunate result was incidental, especially considering that any loss of Israeli lives in the incident would have likely sparked a war, something Israel seeks to avoid.
The investigation, headed by GOC Northern Command Maj. Gen. Amir Baram, found that the 402nd Artillery Battalion, which is operationally charged with overseeing the Avivim area, breached orders by allowing the ambulance to enter the area.
Still, senior General Staff officials criticized the fact the GOC was blaming the battalion for the incident and argued the responsibility lies with Division 300, which oversees the sector as a whole.
The issue now falls to IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, who will review the conclusions before any action is taken against the officers involved.
A statement by the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said that "the operational investigation was conducted in recent weeks by the Northern Command in a thorough and comprehensive manner and presented at various officials levels, as is customary in the IDF."
