Traffic app says not at fault for Israel troops losing way

The two soldiers were later recovered unharmed.

Palestinians threw homemade explosives and shot at the rescue team, which also opened fire, an Israeli spokeswoman said.

The Israeli authorities have since blamed the incident on a faulty traffic app Waze for the two Israelis wondering off into the camp. The app, which was purchased by Google for over US$1 billion in 2013, has an option to “avoid unsafe areas”, though Yaalon said the feature isn’t necessarily enough to keep soldiers safe.

Five Israeli border police were also wounded, one of them seriously, police said.

The news agency reported that the initial army investigation found that two soldiers invaded the camp “by mistake”, before their vehicle was hit by stones and a firebomb; the two fled the burning vehicle, apparently in different directions, and that one of them hid in the courtyard of a Palestinian home, before calling for backup.

“I learned ages ago the importance of navigating with the aid of a real map, and mainly to know the surrounding area and not to rely too heavily on technology which can lead the user astray”, he said. The Israeli government has so far refused to recognize the State of Palestine as an independent diplomatic entity.

He also called for a ban on Israeli settlers. Qalandia camp was established in 1949 in the wake of the creation of Israel and has grown into a densely populated town with 11,000 registered refugees.

Since then, according to the latest Palestinian figures, at least 186 Palestinians – including many attackers – have been killed and another 15,645 injured by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip and in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Israel has over the past 10 days slapped “administrative detention” orders on 84 Palestinians, a controversial procedure under which prisoners can be held without charge, a Palestinian NGO said Monday.