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Don’t rely on navigation apps, IDF says, again, after latest rescue

Palestinian medical sources have reported that two young man suffered serious wounds, on Monday evening, after being crushed by an Israeli military vehicle in the al-Fahs area, south of Hebron, in the southern part of the occupied West Bank. The two were attacked with stones and were eventually evacuated by the Palestinian Police, which transferred them to the IDF after cooperating with the Israeli Civil Administration.

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The army stressed the importance of carrying weapons, particularly while traveling at night, and of properly studying planned routes before setting out.

Once the soldiers realized they were in a Palestinian village they called the police.

An initial investigation into the circumstances that led to the incident found that the two soldiers got lost on the way from the Jordan Rift Valley to their military base in Beit Lid after their navigation app directed them to the Palestinian village of Beit Lid. Soon after the villagers began throwing rocks at their vehicle.

Illustration. Palestinian protesters throw stones at an Israeli military vehicle during a rally at the Qalandiya checkpoint, north of Jerusalem, on March 30, 2013.

The incident is being investigated.

A similar, but far more damaging incident occurred in March when two Israeli soldiers drove directly into a Qalandiya refugee camp after following directions from Waze, an Israel-specific navigation app which was bought by Google in 2013.

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“In this case, the setting was disabled”.

Palestinian protesters throw stones at an Israeli military car during a rally at the Qalandiya checkpoint north of Jerusalem