Probe shows Palestinian woman was inadvertently killed at Erez Crossing after soldiers felt threatened.
By ELIE LESHEM
The Palestinian woman who died Sunday at Erez Crossing was likely killed by IDF fire, the army announced Monday in a statement.
According to the conclusions of the investigation, the soldiers opened fire because they felt threatened by the press of Palestinian pilgrims returning from the haj to Mecca.
"After the group had passed to the Palestinian side of the crossing, hundreds of Palestinians crowded together within the passage and began to advance en masse towards an IDF post located nearby," the statement said. "The IDF force at the post, feeling threatened by the advancing crowd, calledon them to back away. When the Palestinians did not comply, the force fired warning shots into the air in order to distance the crowd."
The statement said that the woman was "apparently" killed and an additional man was injured "as a result of this fire." The army said that "at no stage was there intent to harm civilians."
The IDF initially maintained that troops were firing back at Hamas gunmen who opened fire towards Israel.