Tikun Olam-תקון עולם: Make the World a Better Place

In a sign of the doddering incompetence of the IDF, first it captured the Lebanese army garrison at Merj ’Uyun. Then under the supervision of UNIFIL forces, a large contingent of Lebanese soldiers and civilian refugees organized themselves into to a convoy headed for Beirut. UNIFIL got IDF approval for the trip and UNIFIL troops accompanied it part of the way. But while on the way, an Israeli drone fired eight rockets at the convoy:

In Merj ’Uyun, a large Christian town about five miles north of the Israeli border, the small garrison of 350 Lebanese soldiers and police evacuated the town under the protection of the United Nations after the Israeli army occupied the town. The Lebanese soldiers left without their weapons. The convoy was followed by hundreds of cars packed with the remaining inhabitants of Marjayun and a neighboring town who had been trapped by the Israeli advance.

…Later, after their United Nations escort left, the convoy was struck by Israeli aircraft, news agencies reported, killing 4 [Jerusalem Post reports 7 dead] and wounding 16.

UNIFIL’s spokesperson had this to say:

“UNIFIL left the convoy at that place [13km from the town],” spokesman Milos Strugar said, adding that “the Israeli forces had been told in advance of the convoy’s passage, and had given it the green light”.

“We are trying to find out what happened,” he added.

This is the NPR report (audio stream).

The IDF denies that it gave approval for the trip. Yet the day before, the IDF had brought UNIFIL officers to the town to arrange for the removal of the army personnel from the town. Why would Israel not want the convoy to get out since it would facilitate its occupation of the place? And if it did give permission, then why would it have attacked the convoy? To me, it shows an absolute breakdown of command and control within the IDF.