IDF Orders Thicker Bomb Shelter Windows for Gaza Periphery

YERUSHALAYIM
A bomb shelter in a playground in the southern Israeli city of Sderot. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

The IDF has ordered that bomb shelters in Gaza periphery communities will be fitted with thicker steel plates over the windows for greater protection against incoming projectiles and shrapnel.

The decision was made as a result of an incident in the recent Gaza fighting in which 5-year-old Ido Avigal Hy”d was killed by rocket shrapnel that pierced the metal window covering of a bomb shelter where he had taken cover.

The IDF’s Home Front Command’s investigation led to its recommendation that bomb shelter windows in towns within 4.3 miles of the Gaza border be replaced with 32 mm.-thick windows instead of the standard 24 mm. Many windows are only 16 mm. thick as regulations do not require more.

IDF Spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Hidai Zilberman said at the time the incident was the result of an “incredibly rare” set of circumstances.

“It was a piece of the rocket that came in at a very specific angle, at a very specific speed and at a very specific point,” he said, and noting that the window plating had been constructed according to regulations.

Channel 12 later reported that the window plating had been built according to an old standard, which required that it be 12 mm. rather than the new standard that calls for them to be at least 24 mm. thick.

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