Staff-Sergeant Ronen Ben-Meiri, 31, from Haifa, a member of an elite undercover Border Guard unit, was killed by what now appears to have been "friendly fire" as his unit operated in the city of Ramallah last night.
At approximately 10:30pm yesterday (Monday), St.-Sgt. Ben-Meiri was seriously injured in the head by gunfire during an IDF operation in Palestinian Authority-controlled Ramallah. He was treated at the Ofir Base nearby and then transported to the trauma unit of Jerusalem's Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, where he died of his wounds.
Initial investigation of the incident indicated that Ben-Meiri may have been mistakenly killed by another member of the Border Guard's Gidonim unit who was dressed in civilian garb. Police are continuing to investigate.
St.-Sgt. Ben-Meiri will be laid to rest this afternoon at 3:00pm in the Haifa Military Cemetery.
Arab sources have reported that at least two terrorists of the PLO's Force 17 unit were killed in the Ramallah operation, which was initiated based on information that a wanted Hamas terrorist had found refuge in the city. Eight wanted terrorists were apprehended in Ramallah by IDF soldiers. Ramallah is the location of PLO leader Yasser Arafat's Mukata headquarters.
At approximately 10:30pm yesterday (Monday), St.-Sgt. Ben-Meiri was seriously injured in the head by gunfire during an IDF operation in Palestinian Authority-controlled Ramallah. He was treated at the Ofir Base nearby and then transported to the trauma unit of Jerusalem's Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, where he died of his wounds.
Initial investigation of the incident indicated that Ben-Meiri may have been mistakenly killed by another member of the Border Guard's Gidonim unit who was dressed in civilian garb. Police are continuing to investigate.
St.-Sgt. Ben-Meiri will be laid to rest this afternoon at 3:00pm in the Haifa Military Cemetery.
Arab sources have reported that at least two terrorists of the PLO's Force 17 unit were killed in the Ramallah operation, which was initiated based on information that a wanted Hamas terrorist had found refuge in the city. Eight wanted terrorists were apprehended in Ramallah by IDF soldiers. Ramallah is the location of PLO leader Yasser Arafat's Mukata headquarters.