Subscribe to Print Edition | Sat., April 12, 2008 Nisan 7, 5768 | | Israel Time: 20:26 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Advertising Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

A truck en route to the Nahal Oz fuel depot just before the attack on Wednesday. (Alberto Denkberg) Last update - 10:31 11/04/2008 IDF inquiry into Nahal Oz raid highlights security failures By Amos Harel and Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Hamas, Terrorism, IDF  A preliminary IDF inquiry into the Palestinian raid on the Nahal Oz fuel depot on Wednesday has revealed serious failures in the way some of the forces were deployed and operated during the attack. Two Israeli civilian truck drivers were shot dead at the depot by four Palestinian terrorists. Two of the terrorists were killed by the IDF. The fuel depot at Nahal Oz, near the Karni crossing, is about 50 meters east of the Gaza border fence and about 300 meters from the Palestinian terminal, on the western side of the fence. The four terrorists ran more than 200 meters across an open area west of the fence, but nobody noticed them, despite the series of observation posts staked out in the area. Advertisement The terrorists cut the fence and passed into the Israeli side, very close to an unmanned IDF guardpost. Two of them climbed over the 2.5 meter wall surrounding the depot. The two others waited between the border fence and the wall, poised to fire RPG rockets at IDF soldiers, if they arrived. The IDF received its first warning of the raid only from the electronic fence, which was touched. At the same time, the Palestinian working on the Gaza side of the terminal telephoned his Israeli counterpart and warned him of the attack. Armed with Kalashnikov rifles, the two militants who entered the depot shot the two truck drivers at close range. They did not enter the depot's office or hurt its manager, who was in the office. Immediately after shooting the truck drivers they left the terminal and joined the other cell members. During the attack, mortar shells were fired at the depot to cover the attackers. A few shells landed in a Givati outpost near the Karni border crossing, a few hundred meters south of the gas depot. The force in the outpost, which was supposed to respond swiftly and rush to the infiltration scene, was delayed by the fire and another unit was rushed from the nearby Nahal Oz and reached the depot first. Two of the terrorists fired RPG rockets at the soldiers, but missed. The four cell members began fleeing west, toward the Palestinian side, but shortly after crossing the fence two of them were hit - one by tank fire and the other by Givati soldiers chasing them. Later in the day the Air Force fired at a car carrying militants who were allegedly involved in the raid. It is not clear whether they had taken part in it directly or not. The main failures consisted of the flawed security deployment and the belated identification of the penetration. The IDF Thursday blamed Dor Alon, the depot's owners, for refusing to post a guard at the site despite the IDF's demand that they do so. However, military sources said that in the absence of a guard, the IDF was supposed to protect the site and post a force closer to the depot. The IDF now questions the initial assumption that the terrorists had been planning an abduction and believes that the aim was to kill, rather than kidnap. Ahead of the raid, the Palestinians accumulated a relatively large amount of fuel and diesel on the Palestinian side of the terminal. Now there are some 820,000 liters of diesel and some 200,000 liters of gas in the Palestinian terminal, enabling Hamas sufficient gas for its vehicles and needs for the next few days. Dor Alon officials said Thursday that the IDF did not demand that the company post a guard in the depot and that in any case, there was always a lively movement of forces near the depot. Related articles: News / Two Israeli civilians killed by Gazan infiltrators PM: Israeli response to Negev attack will weaken Hamas Israel: Hamas responsible for Gaza attack, will pay the price Olmert: We won't allow Gaza to slide into a humanitarian crisis Bookmark to del.icio.us   Banning Beijing boycott Israel's Olympic panel warns against mixing sports and politics. 20,000 strong Study released by Israeli think tank shows Hamas' military buildup in Gaza has peaked.   1.   Security forces and IDF caught.... 04:58  |  Silvienne 11/04/08   2.   We had an army! 05:19  |  War veteran 11/04/08   3.   every restaurant has a guard ,why Dor Alon not?? 05:43  |  Vogel 11/04/08   4.   owner need to pay 06:38  |  a.l. 11/04/08   5.   "FIRST ALERT"; an electronic fence? 07:25  |  eric 12/04/08

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