Less than a week after a Qassam rocket crashed into their base and wounded 67 of their fellow soldiers, IDF recruits will return to the Zikim military base in southern Israel to complete their basic training.
Army officials have said that despite the difficult incident and the subsequent threats from parents who said they would not allow their children to return to the unfortified base – all soldiers were expected to report in according to schedule.
Regardless of that, they said, there would be no change in the base's policy on housing recruits in open-air tents. However the fortification program for the base would shift into higher gear and concrete structures would be stationed throughout the base to provide the recruits with shelter in the event of a rocket alert.
Suggestions to halt the training of new recruits at the base were rejected. Over the years the army has also rejected proposals to construct permanent housing for the soldiers, saying that it would not be fitting for troops to receive better fortification than that provided to civilians by the State.