Palestinian health officials say a 22-year-old Palestinian man was killed and four others were wounded in clashes that broke out amid the raid.
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The Israeli military, for its part, said crowds of Palestinian youth in the camp had attacked – and later torched – the soldiers’ military vehicle, continuing to throw rocks and Molotov cocktails even after the soldiers were extricated from the area.
They were later rescued.
The two soldiers were eventually rescued unharmed. Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said the soldiers “apparently used Waze”, the Israeli-developed navigation app now owned by Google.
It is not clear whether the app actually led them into the camp, and the military says it is investigating whether that is the case. Waze includes an option to “avoid risky areas”.
Two Israeli soldiers sparked a night of deadly rioting and shooting after they took a wrong turn into a Palestinian refugee camp while following a Global Positioning System app.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said university student Eyad Sajadiyeh was shot in the head.
Palestinian protests against Israel’s occupation have increased and tensions have soared in the occupied territories and Israel since October, as anger gave way to violence.
They fled after their jeep caught fire, with one escaping to a nearby Jewish settlement and the other taking cover in the yard of a Palestinian family for about an hour before he was rescued by the Israeli troops amid heavy clashes. Qalandia camp was established in 1949 in the wake of the creation of Israel and has grown into a densely populated town with 11,000 registered refugees.
Most of the Palestinians who died in the violence were killed by Israeli forces while carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, as claimed by the Israeli authorities.
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Since then, according to the latest Palestinian figures, at least 186 Palestinians – including many attackers – have been killed and another 15,645 injured by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip and in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
