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Israel soldier robs comrades in Gaza

January 5, 2024 at 9:05 pm

Israeli soldiers, tanks, howitzers and armored vehicles are seen on the Gaza border, in Nahal Oz, Israel on December 13, 2023 [Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency]

An Israeli occupation army soldier stole the belongings of his comrades while they were busy fighting in the Gaza Strip, in an incident that is not the first after Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on 7 October.

According to Israel’s Reshet Bet radio station on Thursday, the incident occurred on 11 October, four days after the launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.

According to the details, at a time when thousands of soldiers were at the head of fighting in the areas surrounding Gaza that the Palestinian Resistance had managed to infiltrate, the soldier raided a container at a military base in the south and stole.

The radio station explained that, in addition to the soldier stealing military tools and equipment that were inside the container, he also stole the personal computer of a lieutenant in the 51 Battalion of the Golani Brigade, one of the elite brigades in the Israeli Occupation army. The Commander was Omer Wolf and he had died during the battles on 7 October.

After the Wolf family went to the military police, the police opened an investigation into the incident and were able to find the computer in the soldier’s home. The military prosecution prosecuted the soldier, accusing him of theft and behaving in an inappropriate manner.

According to the radio station, despite the seriousness of the violations and his deliberate theft of equipment from a soldiers’ container, the Military Court in the Southern District issued a light sentence for the soldier, including a three-month prison sentence, a demotion in rank, and financially compensating the Wolf family for the amount of 2,000 shekels (about $550). The Military Prosecution appealed the sentence and demanded that the prison sentence be doubled to at least six months.

The prosecution stated that Captain Wolf’s personal computer remained in the defendant’s possession for more than two weeks, and only after searching his home was it found, and that the soldier did not return it himself.

The Military Prosecution described the acts as shameful and ugly and said they could not accept the personal belongings of soldiers being stolen from military bases, while they focus their efforts on fighting.

The Israeli Occupation army commented by saying, “We are talking about a very serious incident, which is contrary to what is expected of IDF officers and IDF values. The military prosecution is in contact with the bereaved family and will continue to update them on every development, and the computer was returned to them after the investigation was opened. The IDF shares in the family’s grief and will continue to stand by them.”

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