IDF suspends training after soldier dies in ‘rare’ tank accident in Golan Heights

The military suspended training exercises after an Israeli soldier died under unclear circumstances during a tank exercise in northern Israel on Tuesday night.

According to the initial Israel Defense Forces probe of the incident, the soldier from the 82nd Armored Corps Battalion was found unconscious inside a tank during the live fire drill in the Golan Heights.

The soldier, a loader, was found with his head in an unsafe area between the turret and the hull. Soldiers under no circumstances may put any body parts into this gap while the tank is on, according to IDF protocols.

The initial probe said the soldier may have hit his head while the tank was driving or collapsed due to an unspecified medical condition, and then fell into the unsafe area of the tank and was hurt.

The investigation said that while the tank was driving, the commander noticed that the loader was not responding. The team then stopped and removed the soldier from the tank, and the exercise was halted.

Medical teams reached the scene and the soldier was brought to an APC to take him for further medical treatment at a nearby base. But his death was declared en route, according to the probe.

The incident was described by the IDF as “extremely rare” and it was not fully clear how the soldier ended up in the unsafe area of the tank. A former tank driver described the area to The Times of Israel as the tank’s “triangle of death.” He said it is just behind where the loader stands, and they are trained not to fall in while the tank is on, especially when the turret is in movement.

Officers who inspected the scene found there had been seemingly no issues with the tank itself, the forces operating it, or the conditions in which the drill was held.

The soldier’s helmet would be taken for examination.

In a statement Wednesday afternoon, the IDF said the chief of the Northern Command had appointed Col. Shaul Yisraeli, the commander of the 205th Division, to lead a team of experts that would investigate the matter.

Separately, a Military Police probe was opened which would submit its findings to the Military Prosecution for evaluation.

The soldier was not immediately named.

The head of the IDF’s Ground Forces ordered a halt to all training exercises involving armored vehicles, aside from shooting range practice, until the matter was investigated further.

Tuesday’s accident came after an Israeli soldier, 20-year-old Nathan Fitoussi, was shot dead earlier this month after he returned to a guard post near the Palestinian city of Tulkarem and was misidentified as a threat, and amid reports of additional operational safety lapses.