A teenage boy entered a minefield in the Golan Heights and the IDF rushed into to rescue him.
By The IDF Club
The Golan Heights was once a battlefield where Israeli troops battled Syrian and Jordanian forces.
While Israel vanquished attacking Arab armies, remnants of these battles remain in the ground in Northern Israel, with minefields dotting the landscape on Israel’s border.
Generally, these sites are now clearly marked, to prevent accidental detonation by hikers or other visitors to the area’s stunning vistas.
Unfortunately, a 17-year-old boy entered a minefield on Tuesday evening for reasons that remain unknown.
The IDF’s Combat Engineering Corps and auxiliary rescue personnel arrived on the scene to help remove the teen from the danger zone.
The combat engineering troops carefully directed the boy’s exit using specially-designed footwear in an operation that took multiple hours, according to reports in the Israeli media
In addition to troops on the ground, the operation also required the IDF’s elite Unit 669 search-and-rescue team to deploy a rescue helicopter.
“The boy was rescued safely and is now being examined by military medics,” said the IDF in an official statement.
The Israel National Mine Action Authority (INMAA) continues to address the dangers posed by minefields on Israel’s borders, clearing over 30,000 dunams (3,000 hectares) of minefields during the past decade.
This month, a minefield dating to the Yom Kippur War was cleared by the Defense Ministry.
Live unexploded landmines represent a deadly hazard that has claimed innocent lives, including a soldier who was killed in 2013 when a mine exploded during a clearing operation in the Golan. Two children were also injured in 2011 playing near Mount Hermon.
