The IDF has recently issued a reworking of the rules of engagement for soldiers in conflict with firecracker wielding assailants. According to the new rules of engagement, soldiers who are engaged with firecracker wielding attackers within a 25-30 meter proximity are permitted to use live ammunition.

According to a report that appeared in the Jerusalem Post on Monday, an IDF officer said that the updates regarding the rules of engagement were only recently issued.

The officer commented that there was no ‘real change’ to the prior rules. There still needs to be some discretion on the part of the soldiers, and live fire may only be used when soldiers or security personnel feel that a life is being threatened. Terrorists shooting firecrackers at civilians or soldiers from a distance of 25-30 meters constitutes a life-threatening situation in which soldiers would be permitted to use live fire.

Non-direct fire, obviously inaccurate fire as well as firecrackers shot from a farther distance do not constitute a direct threat to life. Soldiers will therefore not be allowed to use live ammunition while engaging with assailants in these types of scenarios. The officer said that the rules are meant to to be flexible as each situation is subjective and constantly changing.

A source in the IDF’s Central Command insinuated that the recent protocol updates were a result of an incident which occurred during Operation Brother’s Keeper in June in which fireworks were shot at soldiers stationed at the Tapuach Junction in Samaria.

The officer said that over the past year there has been a dramatic increase in the use of firecrackers as weapons by Palestinians. The use of firecrackers as weapons is a new addition to terrorists’ traditional arsenal including violent rioting as well as stone and Molotov cocktail throwing.