IDF sources on Wednesday evening vehemently denied rumors that the IDF vehicles hit by Hezbollah terrorists earlier in the day were not reinforced against bombing and shooting attacks. “We already opened an investigation into the incident and we can see that the issue was not with the vehicle, but with the very precise shooting the enemy engaged in,” the official said.
The denial came after several reports appeared in Israeli media quoting IDF officials who said that the vehicles, Isuzu dMax jeeps, were civilian vehicles and not reinforced. IDF policy is to send only reinforced vehicles to border patrol missions, and the reports said that the wrong vehicles were sent out due to a mixup.
According to the IDF source contacted by Arutz Sheva, the vehicles were up to par, and the two soldiers who died in the attack were killed because of other factors. The spokesperson added that the fact that other soldiers exited the vehicle when the shooting began probably saved their lives, as sharpshooters would have been able to hit others in the vehicle.
Two IDF soldiers were killed earlier Wednesday when Lebanese terror group fired antitank missiles at two IDF vehicles in the Har Dov area (Shebaa Farms) in a Hezbollah ambush. Six casualties in light to moderate condition weretaken to Ziv Hospital in Tzfat. Additional casualties were evacuated to Rambam Hospital. The IDF vigorously denied Hezbollah claims that an IDF soldier had been kidnapped, and a Lebanese report later confirmed that Hezbollah had failed to capture an Israeli soldier.