Nine reservist soldiers and their platoon commander have been removed from combat positions for illegally opening fire toward Gaza while listening to a megillah reading on Purim last Friday, the IDF said Sunday.
They are to be confined to a military base for 28 days but will not have to spend time in military prison, it said.
Their company commander received a formal censure, the IDF said.
The decisions were made as part of a court martial held by the brigade and battalion commanders, it said.
In a video that circulated on Friday, the reservists can be seen firing toward Gaza upon hearing the name of Haman – the evil Persian prime minister who plotted to annihilate all of the Jews in the Purim story – during the megillah reading by a fellow combat soldier.
חיילים הוצאו מהרצועה אחרי שביצעו ירי ללא סיבה בזמן קריאת המגילה. גורמים בצה"ל: "התפרקות משמעת" | תיעוד@ItayBlumental pic.twitter.com/9F6wtJZYkL
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) March 15, 2025
Soldiers removed from border duty
The combat soldiers were removed from their Gaza border duty on Saturday, the IDF said.
The incident was against the military’s fundamental values and was especially problematic for combat soldiers on the border, it said.
There has been an increase in a variety of problematic disciplinary incidents as the Israel-Hamas War drags on.
Recently, there was a video of IDF soldiers pushing a Palestinian car down a hill for no apparent reason. A criminal probe of the incident was opened.
There also has been an increasing number of criminal probes against IDF soldiers for potential violent incidents, including beating Palestinian detainees.
Israel regularly presents the findings of probes and prosecutions of its soldiers as a reason why the International Criminal Court investigation against it is invalid.