A week after soldiers attempted a helicopter rescue from a minefield, gusty winds blew an IDF paratrooper Thursday afternoon straight into a Golan minefield. The incident occurred near Kibbutz Mavoh Hamah, in northern Israel.
Magen David Adom paramedics attempted to rescue the 36-year-old soldier, but realized that it was too dangerous to enter the minefield. They subsequently ordered a IDF helicopter to evacuate the soldier from the area. He is reported to be suffering light to moderate injuries.
The medics said that they were initially unaware that the field was loaded with mines when they rushed to the scene. “We quickly got out of there,” MDA paramedic Itzchik Amazleg told Wallah News. Due to the difficult terrain, they were not within visual range of the wounded paratrooper.
Although the soldier was experiencing pain from lacerations in his hip, his life was not in danger, according to the paramedics, who were in constant contact with the soldier via his friend, who remained by his side in the minefield.
Not willing to risk another botched helicopter rescue attempt, it was the IDF engineering corps who carefully went into the minefield. After clearing the area, they successfully evacuated the injured soldier. The soldier was subsequently transported to the Poriah Hospital in Tiberias.
Last week, Alah Agbariah, 24, was killed during a botched helicopter rescue attempt from a minefield. Agbariah, along with two other friends from an Arab village in Wadi Ara, entered a fenced-in minefield, ostensibly to find a scenic spot for a picnic or catching porcupines. However, Agbariah stepped on a mine, setting it off. His foot was severed in the blast.
IDF sappers were summoned to the area to attempt to rescue the three, two of whom suffered no injuries. When the security forces determined that the mined terrain would make it too hard to evacuate the hikers by foot, the forces ordered an IDF helicopter to rescue them from the area. As Alah Agbariah was hoisted 60 feet (20 meters) into the air, he fell out of the harness and plummeted to his death, which was documented on video. The IDF's elite medical evacuation unit (Unit 669) was shocked by the unprecedented botch-up.