Israel arrests youth leaders for death by negligence

Rasa - Israeli police have taken into custody three youth leaders from a pre-military academy for causing death through negligence after 10 teenagers were killed by flash floods while being prepared for the military draft.

News ID: 437408

Date: 28 April 2018 - 22:43

RNA - Israel, which is in a continuous war with the Palestinians and other Arab states, has a mandatory military service for both men and women during which the recruits are toughened for extreme situations.

The arrests came after nine females and one male were killed on a school trip due to flash floods south of the Dead Sea.

According to the police, the academy leaders had ignored warnings from the local meteorological service about the possibility of floods following torrential rain.

The victims were part of a group of 25 people, including the academy staff members, who went on the trek.

One of the survivors of the incident said a wave, which was at least three meters high, hit the group.

"I was holding on to one of my friends really tight," the student's father quoted him as saying. "But we couldn't cope with the massive flow of water. She slipped away from me in front of my eyes."

According to Press TV, the Israeli teenagers were on a gap year program between school and their mandatory military service.

Earlier this month, Israeli forces fired stun grenades and clashed violently with protesters rallying against conscription in the army.

Draft-dodging is not a new phenomenon in Israel whose occupation and settlement expansion policies are a cause for continuous conflict with  Palestinians.

However, the human toll and the vague and shifting military objectives of the Israeli regime are spurring many among a new generation of Israeli soldiers to question orders.

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