An investigation conducted by the Israeli army into the operation of the martyr Egyptian policeman, Mohamed Salah, who carried out a shooting attack about two weeks ago at the Egyptian-Palestinian border with Sinai, which resulted in the death of 3 Israeli soldiers, revealed the exact details of the operation.

This came within the framework of an investigation conducted by the command of the so-called Southern Region, which it handed over to its Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevi, and its results were published today, and based on its details, many decisions were taken, including dismissing a senior officer and transferring him to another location, reprimanding a number of officers, and taking new security steps.

The investigation recounted the operation, moment by moment, and how the martyr Mohammed Salah, the perpetrator of the operation, acted.

According to the investigation, at 4:20 in the morning, the officer on duty that night inspected the soldiers by radio, and at the point where the operation took place, Private Uri Yitzhak Iluz answered the phone, and replied that everything was fine.

At 6:09 in the morning, the usual inspection by monitoring means, everything was found to be in normal condition.

At 6:50 am, a radar detected suspicious movement in the area, and during that the soldiers at the monitoring site contacted the military point, but the soldiers did not notice anything, and the scanning process continued in the neighboring areas, and at that moment, the port reached a point called a "security hole". It turns out that he knew in advance of its location, and infiltrated it.

Within 11 minutes, it infiltrated completely quietly towards the military point, as it was spotted at 7:02 am.

And at 7:14 am, he arrived at the military point where the soldier Iluz was, accompanied by the female soldier, Lea Bin Nun, and at that time the soldier was wandering around the fence next to the guard station and inspecting the area, in a state of alert, accompanied by his weapon and wearing a jacket, and with one bullet he killed him, then He went to the same point and shot the female soldier, then continued to sneak into the area.

The investigation indicates that female soldiers at the other nearby point heard the gunshots, and recognized a person close to the place, but they believed that he was a soldier near the site, and therefore the event is not reported in such circumstances.

At 9:03 am, two recruits from the duty force arrived to assume their duties instead of the two soldiers, before they found them dead bodies, and immediately issued a distress call.

At 9:22 am, a state of emergency was declared and an infiltration operation was reported. At 9:27 am, the "Fahd" battalion serving in the area began a comprehensive survey of the area and work to isolate it from its surroundings.

At 9:34 am, the "Qassasi al-Athar" military unit discovered human footprints, and they incorrectly estimated that they were for a person who had returned to Egypt. Despite this, the officer on duty made a decision that the investigation described as "correct", "important" and "decisive". Continuing search and combing operations in the area.

The time was 10:37 in the morning, that is, an hour after the decision to search and sweep, until a platoon commander was able to detect the port with a 2-km-range binoculars.

After the chain of command, it was decided, at 11:08 am, to fly a drone and identify the perpetrator as armed, and at 11:18, the perpetrator opened fire, and at 11:35, he exchanged fire with a military force that arrived at the scene, within range Its range was 200 meters, and as a result, two soldiers were wounded, one of whom was later announced dead from his wounds, Ohad Dahan, to be the third casualty in the operation.

At 12:22, the exchange of fire continued with a force that arrived for reinforcement in the place, and after clashes that lasted for two minutes, the port was liquidated. According to the investigation.

The investigation reveals that the main reasons for the attack were the security corridor in the fence, which was hidden but not closed, and the misapplication of the principle of security and protection in the border area. smuggling, as well as security incidents, confirming the investigation that the soldiers who were killed did not commit any mistake, and were in a state of full vigilance and dealt properly in the field, as Israeli soldiers. As the investigation says.

It turned out that the deployment of the forces in the region was important, but the division into two pairs at each point, the duration of the mission, and the method of control were wrong. It also turns out that the forces when locating the port were decisively acted upon and neutralized, and no gap was found in the Air Force’s response to the demands. field forces.

The investigation confirms that the security openings were not known to the soldiers in advance, and they are designated for any activity when necessary for the Israeli forces, and it was also found that the soldiers who were in the nearby points, and due to the large number of criminal incidents, did not report hearing gunfire.

As part of the lessons learned, it was decided to close the security points in the fence, reduce the duration of the shift mission to less than 12 hours, and a joint investigation was conducted with the Egyptian army against the background of the strategic security cooperation between the two sides.

As a result, it was decided to dismiss the commander of the so-called "Faran" brigade in the Israeli army, which is the brigade responsible for the area, Ido Sa'ad, and transfer him to another location because of his public responsibility for the incident, and it was also decided to reprimand the commander of the 80th Division, Itzik Cohen, for his lack of control over the implementation of the procedures. , and the commander of the Caracal Battalion, Ivo Kun, and his promotion freeze for 5 years, due to his responsibility for not dealing in an accurate operational manner with the event.

It was decided to examine the concept of defense and the means available in the region, and to form a team to study that.

As part of the lessons learned from the operation, it was decided to close the crossings and security points in the fence, reduce the duration of the soldiers' shift mission, and set a different minimum for them in this type of mission.

Commenting on this, the commander of the southern region in the Israeli army, Eliaz Tualedano, described what happened as a serious incident with serious operational consequences that could have been prevented, and it is necessary to draw lessons from it immediately.

While the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, Herzi Halevi, said, This is an operational incident that resulted in a serious result of the killing of 3 soldiers at the hands of one “terrorist”, as he described it, stressing that there were gaps and errors in the operational concept that could have prevented such an attack, and that a conclusion would be drawn. Lessons learned from the attack on all fronts.