News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) OC Central Command Gadi Shamni has ordered that an entire infantry company from the Lavi Battalion be suspended from operational activity following the shooting of a suspect Arab near Hevron Thursday morning.

A reconnaissance force operating on foot in the village of Dahariya yesterday reportedly decided to commandeer an Arab taxi cab and ordered its passengers out. While driving about in the taxi, the soldiers are said to have identified a suspicious Arab appearing to be wielding a gun and to have opened fire upon him. The man was seriously wounded, but is expected to live.

Media reports highlight the facts that the soldiers did not tend to the man's injuries and did not report the incident to their commanders, and say that commandeering the taxi cab was a breach of orders. Following a preliminary inquiry, Shamni said that the incident stemmed from a problem with commanders, with norms, and possibly with a  lack of professionalism."