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An IDF Major, the former acting battalion commander and sector commander of the Kerem Shalom crossing, has been indicted for smuggling goods into the Gaza strip, which included 125,000 cigarettes, 2,000kg of tobacco, 600 mobile phones, 10 electric bicycles, 100 batteries, and 10 laptops, exceeding 7 million shekels.
The indictment claimed the Major falsely told the shift commander that the truck was for operational purposes, stating it shouldn’t be stopped or filmed, and when the truck parked inside Gaza, the troops became suspicious, but the officer ordered them to stand down and said he’d handle it personally.
When the Gazan driver refused to collect the truck, the officer sent his accomplice into Gaza to drive it to Deir al-Balah then left him there for two days, and the accomplice was eventually rescued with the help of another soldier, whose identity remains unknown to the prosecution.
According to i24News, the Major was smuggling the goods into Gaza to cover a multimillion-shekel debt to crime boss Firas Naaimi, claiming the Major also fabricated a cover story that he acted under threats, including a photo of his brother with a gun to his head, and later broke his phone to destroy evidence.
