Israeli soldier killed by colleagues in Palestinian role-play

An Israeli soldier has been killed by his colleagues during a training exercise in which he played the part of a Palestinian attempting to stab someone, Safa news agency reported on Wednesday. The role play took place in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron on Monday, an official investigation has revealed.

Haaretz named the dead soldier as First Lieutenant Yishai Rosales, a platoon commander in the Golani Brigade. He apparently turned a table upside down during the exercise and made as if to stab his colleagues. The soldiers reacted by opening fire and killing him on the spot.

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According to the newspaper, Rosales forgot to tell his troops to empty the ammunition from their guns before the exercise began.

Observers have said that this deadly accident demonstrates that the Israeli occupation forces are trained to kill Palestinians in such situations, not disarm and arrest them. Others have pointed out that Israeli security officers appear to be incapable of disarming potential and actual attackers in such situations.