- A US Marine officer mentioned the Israel Protection Forces (IDF) has been capturing down a few of its personal drones.
- The officer mentioned the IDF had been taking out 40% of their very own UAVs, per The Conflict Zone.
- An IDF spokesperson instructed BI they’d elevated “coordination processes” for aerial drones.
The Israel Protection Forces (IDF) have been capturing down nearly half of their very own drones, a US Marine Corps officer has mentioned.
Talking on the Trendy Day Marine exposition final week, Lt. Col. Michael Pruden instructed attendees that “40% of the UASs … knocked out” by the IDF are circumstances of “pleasant fireplace,” The Conflict Zone reported.
“As Israel’s partaking in Gaza, they usually’re on their entrance line, they see a small UAS, what are they going to do if it isn’t recognized instantly?” Pruden mentioned. “They’ll shoot it down.”
Pruden didn’t make clear the place or when such incidents had occurred, however the implication was that it got here from Israel’s latest army operations in Gaza, which started after Hamas’ October 7 assaults on Israel, the report mentioned.
Following the assaults, Israel has continued to hold out airstrikes on the territory, in addition to launching a floor offensive. Greater than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed on account of the operations to date, per the Gaza well being ministry.
The Marine Corps instructed Enterprise Insider that The Conflict Zone report was precisely contextualized however declined to supply extra data.
The self-inflicted drone losses are the most recent expensive blunder of the IDF’s operations in Gaza. Different incidents have included situations of pleasant fireplace, with each Israeli troopers and hostages reported to have fallen sufferer to such incidents.
An IDF spokesperson instructed BI that “there have been a number of incidents by which IDF drones had been shot down by troops throughout fight” at the beginning of the Gaza battle.
“These incidents primarily occurred early within the battle close to an occasion the place troops had been hit by an enemy drone,” they continued. “Within the months that adopted, these incidents dramatically decreased because of the institution of coordination processes for flying drones.”
The Royal United Providers Institute (RUSI) assume tank has mentioned Israel is “one of many world’s main UAV customers and producers.”
IDF
Different IDF errors have price lives fairly than simply precious gear.
In April, two IDF reservists had been killed after an Israeli tank shell hit the constructing the place they had been staying in an obvious case of mistaken id, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.
One other report in Haaretz earlier this week mentioned that 22 IDF troopers have been killed and 54 have been injured by pleasant fireplace within the battle to date.
In December, the IDF mentioned it had by accident killed three Israeli hostages after troops had “mistakenly recognized” them as threats.
The IDF mentioned in a press release following the incident that it expressed “deep regret over the tragic incident and sends the households its heartfelt condolences.”
Reviews have additionally emerged suggesting that the IDF had possible by accident killed Israeli residents throughout Hamas’ assaults on October 7.
An IDF investigation discovered that 68-year-old Efrat Katz had possible been killed by Israel Air Drive helicopter fireplace as she was being kidnapped by Hamas gunmen.
