The Israel Defense Force lost three soldiers in less than 24 hours, after a road accident in the southern Lebanon security zone and a bizarre incident at a military trial, in which a private ran amok.
One died and four were injured Sunday when their armored personnel carrier, on a routine exercise, plummeted 10 feet off the road into a dry riverbed and overturned.
The accident occurred near the Rosh Hanikra border checkpoint at the coastal end of the security zone. The dead soldier was identified as Yaacov Ohana, 20, a medical corpsman from Bat Yam.
On Monday morning, Pvt. Itzhak Halfon was given a 21-day jail term for breach of discipline. On hearing the sentence, he grabbed an M-16 rifle, wounded a young soldier and fatally shot Capt. Yair Levy of Holon in the chest.
Halfon then rushed from the building and shot himself to death. Neither of his two victims was in any way connected with his trial and sentence.
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