IDF inquiries into two incidents in which Arabs were killed two weeks ago have been completed and their conclusions appear to reflect the IDF's heightened effort to avoid hurting Arabs, even when they behave violently and endanger soldiers.
The summary of the report was handed to Major General Avi Mizrachi, Head of Central Command. The inquiries found that the Arab casualties might have been avoided if the forces had taken different tactical actions.
March 20 event
The first incident occurred at the village of Arak Burin near Shechem on March 20. Arabs rioted and hurled firebombs and rocks at soldiers who tried to prevent the Arab multitude from reaching the nearby community of Bracha. The Battalion's Deputy Commander entered the village in a convoy of vehicles to arrest some of the rioters. They were faced with a roadblock and had to get out of the vehicles.
The officer and soldiers then fired rubber-coated bullets at the marauding Arabs. Two Arabs were later reported dead, but because their bodies were snatched away by villagers and autopsies could not be performed, it was impossible to determine if they were killed by IDF fire.
Maj-Gen Mizrachi concluded that entering the village had been unnecessary and the results of the decision to enter it were “severe.” The Military Police's investigation of the incident is ongoing.
March 21 event
A second inquiry dealt with an event at the entrance to Awarta on March 21. An IDF force was conducting a security check on two Arab suspects when one of them attacked a soldier with a bottle. Another soldier who felt that his life was in danger fired at the Arab and killed him. A second Arab got up and held a sharp object in his hand, causing the soldier to suspect that he was also about to attack him. The soldier fired at the second Arab, killing him.
Maj-Gen Mizrachi determined that firing at the first Arab was justified in the circumstances but that firing at the second one was not. He may therefore take punitive steps against the commanders who were involved in the incident.
Instructions to IDF soldiers in Judea and Samaria have been radically changed in recent months, and they are no longer allowed to fire at Arabs except in extreme circumstances. It is not clear why the definition of extreme circumstances seems not to include the above situations.