Soldiers on the northern border
Photo: AFP
Thai man shot on border
IDF patrol misidentifies foreign worker as terrorist infiltrator; man hospitalized after troops suspect him of being terrorist infiltrator
A 25-year-old Thai worker from the Manara Kibbutz in northern Israel
was lightly injured, Saturday, after IDF troops along the border with Lebanon
mistakenly identified him as a terrorist infiltrator and shot him.
At around noon, IDF look-outs identified a number of suspicious figures moving along the Israeli side of the northern border fence, next to the orchards belonging to the northern Galilee kibbutz. A local patrol was deployed to the area to investigate.
Upon arriving, they noticed a figure with a handkerchief across his face and called upon him to identify himself. When he did not, they shot at him.
Shortly after, it became clear that the man was a Thai worker, helping with the harvest along with a number of other foreign workers. He was treated by a local Magen David Adom team for a bullet wound in the shoulder and then transferred to a hospital in Safed.
The IDF confirmed the details of the incident and said it was being further investigated. It emphasized that the force had behaved in accordance to protocol, first calling on the man to identify himself before shooting.
"The IDF will continue to undertake routine patrols and similar operations along the northern border in order to prevent infiltration attempts," the IDF spokesperson's office said in a statement.
