Court sentences officer who refused evacuation orders

A light sentence was handed down on Tuesday against an IDF captain who abandoned his command during the evacuation of settlements in the northern West Bank.

According to court proceedings, during the evacuations, the officer received an order to block the road leading to the settlements of Sa Nur and Homesh, which were slated for removal. The road blockage was intended to prevent additional activists from arriving and reinforcing the protesters seeking to block the evacuations. The officer refused to carry out the order, and was removed from his command.

An army court headed by the central command concluded their legal proceedings on Tuesday, finding the officer, a resident of the Kiryat Arba settlement outside Hebron, guilty of dereliction of duty, and issued him a harsh reprimand and a suspended sentence. The officer's rank was not affected by the court's ruling.