Power outages and ongoing technical failures continue to disrupt daily operations at the IDF reconnaissance base in the Negev.
According to military correspondent Doron Kedush on Galei Tzahal (IDF Radio), two training companies in combat reconnaissance—nearly 200 soldiers—who returned to the base yesterday after being promised that electricity had been restored, found themselves once again without power for an entire day in the desert heat.
The soldiers report that there is no air conditioning and no cold drinking water. After a full night of training, they returned to the base in the morning to rest, but found themselves without cooled rooms or access to cold water.
The IDF stated that the outage was a planned power cut expected to end at 4 pm; however, in practice, it continued beyond that time. The military added that all soldiers are housed in air-conditioned rooms with access to cold water, but the soldiers themselves describe the opposite situation.
The report notes that the base commander insisted on returning soldiers to their regular base routine, but after about a week of prolonged technical problems, the IDF has yet to find a solution ensuring electricity and cold water for its troops.
Last Thursday, the IDF decided to evacuate the reconnaissance base and send the soldiers home after several female soldiers fainted due to extreme heat. These were trainees serving as observers, who endured harsh conditions caused by prolonged power outages.