Israel aborts raid after soldier posts details on Facebook

Israel’s military and one of its soldiers are no longer “friends” after the gunner posted details of an impending West Bank raid on his Facebook page, leading to the mission being aborted, the army and media reports said on Wednesday.

The soldier from an artillery unit updated his page on the social networking site, saying “on Wednesday we are cleaning Qatanna, and on Thursday, God willing, going home,” army radio reported.

Other soldiers in the unit, who saw the posting, alerted their officers and the planned raid on Qatanna, a village near the Palestinian city of Ramallah, was called off, the army said in a statement.

“The division commander decided to cancel the operation out of concern that the information had reached hostile groups and would harm IDF [Israeli military] forces,” the statement said.

The soldier’s page contained details of his unit and the exact time and location of the planned sweep. The army said soldiers are barred from posting any sensitive information on the Internet.

The Israeli army frequently carries out raids in the occupied West Bank, detaining suspected Palestinian militants.

The army apparently did not “like” the post.

The soldier was “sentenced to 10 days’ imprisonment, his combat certificate revoked, and he was removed from his battalion and from all combat postings,” the statement said.—AFP