[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: Is there an adult in the house?

"Some of the technological innovations haven't been authorized due to
concerns that civilians unaffiliated with terror may be hurt...desire to
avoid civilian casualties often leads to successful infiltrations."

The IDF continues to suffer from a combination of a false morality and
surrender to PR concerns. These are problems that need to be addressed first
and foremost by the Government to both correct the "morality" and give the
IDF the PR backing it needs so that it can effectively act to defend against
infiltrations.]

IDF: Palestinian civilians have no business near border
IDF notes increase in infiltration attempts from Gaza. Saturday's attempts
end in 7 arrests, 1 casualty. 'We have no intention of harming Palestinian
civilians, but must treat every attempt as a terror threat'
Hanan Greenberg YNEY Published: 08.18.07, 20:59 / Israel News
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3439078,00.html

A Palestinian man was killed Saturday afternoon by IDF troops in northern
Gaza, just south of the Karni goods crossing. The army said troops
identified three Palestinians advancing towards the security fence and
behaving in a suspicious manner. After the men ignored calls to stop and
turn around, the soldiers fired toward their legs.

One of the men was killed and the army contacted the Palestinian Health
Ministry in Gaza to send an ambulance to evacuate him. The two other
Palestinians were lightly wounded and taken for questioning by Israeli
forces.

The IDF has launched a probe into the incident and it remains unclear if the
men were terror operatives or civilians trying to enter Israel to seek work.
Palestinian sources said the men are unaffiliated with terror groups.

Earlier in the day five Palestinians infiltrated Israel near Kibbutz Be'eri.
Searches took more than an hour and a helicopter was called in to assist
efforts. The five were eventually caught and taken in for questioning.

The IDF Gaza battalion is closely monitoring the increase in infiltration
attempts. Over the past three weeks, 10 gunmen have been killed while trying
to plant bombs alongside the security fence. The explosive devices are
primarily used against IDF border patrols but have also been detonated
against border crossings.

"Our goal is to stop anyone who approaches the fence; sometimes it's
civilians, sometimes it's terrorists and sometimes it's terrorists
pretending to be civilians, so the mission is very complex," said a military
official. "We have no intention of harming civilians, but it's often
impossible to ascertain the intent of each individual infiltrator."

Due to the fact that the fence acts as a barrier for Gaza terrorists seeking
to carry out attacks inside Israel, the security establishment tried to
create an impenetrable fence after the disengagement using advanced
technology developed for guarding borders. Two years after the last Israeli
left Gaza, the project has not yet been completed.

'Civilians know approaching the border is dangerous'

Some of the technological innovations haven't been authorized due to
concerns that civilians unaffiliated with terror may be hurt. Other ideas
have yet to receive the necessary budgeting.

The army says the desire to avoid civilian casualties often leads to
successful infiltrations.

"We treat every person advancing towards the fence as a potential terror
threat, because if we don't, we may find ourselves with the aftermath of a
terror attack.

"Civilians have no business near the fence and it is very clear to them that
approaching it is dangerous," said the military official.

Recently several similar incidents have led to massive nationwide manhunts
after successful infiltrations. Two weeks ago central Israel came to a
standstill after two Palestinians managed to cross the fence and reach the
village of Tira in the Sharon region. The two were later confirmed to have
been searching for work.

Two additional Palestinians were apprehended in the central city of Bat Yam
after an Israeli citizen helped them leave Gaza with his private vehicle.

Ali Waked contributed to this report