Court orders state to pay man hurt by IDF bomb

The Court ordered the Defense Ministry and the ILA to compensate Beduin man for physical and emotional harm.

By YONAH JEREMY BOB
A Beduin man rides a horse in al-Arakib 311 (R) (photo credit: REUTERS/Amir Cohen)
A Beduin man rides a horse in al-Arakib 311 (R)
(photo credit: REUTERS/Amir Cohen)
The courts announced on Sunday that the Beersheba Magistrate’s Court ordered the Defense Ministry and the Israel Lands Authority to pay Israeli Beduin Ali Glida’an NIS 853,561 for physical, emotional and other harm when he was injured by part of an exploding IDF cluster bomb while herding camels.
The decision, issued on Wednesday, said the Defense Ministry and the ILA were negligent in failing to properly warn civilians and keep them out of the area of an IDF base near Sde Boker, a security area which posed heightened dangers.
Glida’an’s left leg and right arm were injured in the August 1, 2003 blast, which also disfigured and scarred his entire body.
A companion, Abu Moslam, helped Glida’an get to the IDF base, from which he was transferred to Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba.
He remained at Soroka for almost seven weeks, until September 18, 2003.
The court held that the Defense Ministry and the ILA’s testimony showed they knew that local Beduin used the area for herding camels, but that relevant IDF officials had not taken the necessary steps to protect them.
In fact, Gilda’an testified in 2012 that it was only in 2010-2011 that a warning was placed in the area to prevent incidents such as his own.
The defendants had argued that civilians in the area were responsible for acquiring maps of the security zones.
The court rejected this argument, calling it unreasonable.
The defendants also said that Glida’an had entered the area knowing it was dangerous and with intent to steal scrap metal.
The court found there was insufficient proof of this argument, while also finding proof that the defendants knew their signage in the area was weak and that they did not repair broken or stolen signs quickly enough.
The decision also noted that the entire security area is spread out over a wide area of 100 kilometers.
The IDF Spokesman’s Office said it had nothing to say about the decision.