Civilian wounded by stray IDF bullet while fishing at Nitzanim
Incident comes almost two months after 12-year-old hit by IDF bullet in same area; IDF: Site is marked firing zone.
By Yuval AzoulayA man in his forties was moderately wounded on Tuesday when a stray bullet fired by Israel Defense Forces troops hit him while he was fishing in the Nitzanim area.
Danny Cohen was taken to Danny Barzilai hospital in Ashkelon for treatment. This incident comes almost two months after a 12-year-old Kiryat Gat resident was lightly wounded while fishing in the same area, also by a stray IDF bullet.
The IDF spokesman's office issued a statement saying that a preliminary investigation into the incident revealed that the man had entered a clearly marked live fire training zone.
The IDF added that Cohen had arrived at the site earlier in the day with a group of people and was cautioned not to enter the area by troops stationed there to keep civilians from entering the grounds. The group had apparently entered the zone from an alternate entrance, despite the warnings, the IDF said.
Following the August 21 incident in which a 12-year-old boy was similarly wounded, the IDF said it would consider improving the warning signs around firing areas. The IDF said Tuesday that several steps have in fact been taken to prevent these occurrences.
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People didn't have guns 1000's of years ago and people died in droves at the hand of man then like they do today. The simple statement that elimating guns will save lives is rather simplist. Anybody who wants to do harm to another will use what ever tool is avalible. Look at what the Rwandans did in 3 months with nothing more than a machete and clubs
The image of a lonely bullet wandering aimlessly around town and looking for someone to hit is rather bizarre. Not quite as bizarre Colin, Maureen Anne and the rest, who love to ignore the Pals killed by Pal "stray" bullets and the Israelis killed by intentionally targeted knifes bullets and guns, but still bizarre.
Granted the goof was fishing in a posted no-go zone, but the IDF needs to use its head, also. A popular coastal beach area and Ashdod Dunes hiking area is no longer a good place for a live-fire target range. It might have been way out in the boondocks in 1960, but it is not now. We have the same issues here in the US, where growing suburban areas creep up on military facilities. The obvious answer is to move the low-tech/low-cost target range to a site away from the beach and the nature preserve. Hagana Teva (Israel's Sierra Club) has been nagging them to do this for years. That this kind of incident keeps recurring, combined with the appalling training deficiencies the last Lebanon conflict revealed, is a warning, suggesting Israel is not putting top people in charge of its reserve training. There is a terrible price to pay for poor quality vision and leadership in this low visibility but important function. Not that anything is to be gained by telling this to Olmert.
Not a 'Palestinian militant' this time - just a 'stray IDF bullet!'
Here in America having guns is a fundamental right.
Danny Cohen does not exactly sound like an Arabic name. How is it possible that he was shot by a stray bullet? I thought only Palestinians were shot by "stray bullets", and that the term was a euphemism. Somebody at Ha'Aretz needs to check their sources.
If there were no weapons in the world then a lot of people would had been saved. How many innocent people are getting shot every day from bullets? The companies that make bullets are fully aware of that but unfortunately the money is more importent than the human lives for them. The bullets are killing everybody, the christians, the jews and the moslems. The bullets are killing your brother, your sister and your friend and the neighbour. And someday it maybe will kill me or kill you, the risc is there and the risc is very high. So why dont we protest against the production of weapons?
If only Palestinians had horns on their heads, or were covered with fur, or something...
Punish the fool and his friends.
I distinctly remember reading in "Haretz" or Jpost about an Israeli platoon ,having bazookas but not knowing how to use them,thus not being able to respond to Hezbollah's shelling . Or soldiers getting tired after marching couple of miles and not being able to proceed. Or a company refusing orders to advance,as this would endanger them.. Or not having spare socks or even a bottle of water with them. Their training must have been v.superflous if they've gone thru it without acquiring an ability to use weapons or always expecting somebody'd provide them with water exactly when needed.
Sorry to say, but your lousy comment disgusts me. How can you bring up the Lebanon War....what does 1 have to do with the other. And how can you call the soldiers spoiled Israelis. You obviously have no connections to the IDF. I personally had friends in that war, and they are far from spoiled and there training was very professional and tough. It was not the brave soldiers fault, the blame to be placed on is the commanders. If you know anyone who fought in the latest war then you would know about the great miscommunication and poor deployment strategies. So dont go name calling people who put their necks out on the line to protect a nation....that just shows your ignorance, stupidity, and childishness.
Absolute Sweden - What are you even talking about? Get a grip.
Just like the unfitness of the IDF soldiers during the latest Lebanon war had been caused by spoiled Israelis unwilling to train in earnest,the current accident was caused by another spoiled Israeli ,indulged by the IDF "taking steps to prevent". A firing range is closed for fishermen,period.