A serious attack on IDF soldiers was carried out by Arab terrorists Friday at the village of Silwad, not far from Ofra, in the Binyamin area.
The terrorists hurled a pipe bomb at a group of soldiers, injuring two of them in the legs. In the embedded video above, one of the soldiers can be seen limping away as the Arabs videotaping the event snicker. The video can be activated by clicking on the image.
A swastika can be seen on the wall at the left of the screen.
The event illustrates the IDF's general impotence vis-a-vis terrorists in Judea and Samaria, where legal restrictions forbid soldiers from opening fire except under the most extreme circumstances.
IDF soldiers have been instructed by their commanders to avoid killing terrorists, even if they spot them as they are about to throw a firebomb or rock at a car, Makor Rishon reported two weeks ago. The only time soldiers may shoot to kill are when there is “real danger of loss of life” – but the parameters of this situation are not clearly defined.
The newspaper cited S., a combat soldier who was stationed near Ramallah a few weeks ago, as saying that rocks are not necessarily defined as life-threatening weapons in IDF orders. If the rocks are being thrown at Israeli cars on a main road, soldiers may fire at the legs of the terrorists, and only with the approval of a company commander. In other cases, the company commander is only allowed to authorize firing rubber-coated bullets.
"They want us to hit a knee or two, to achieve deterrence,” S. summed up.