On This Day in History: The Zikim Tragedy Unfolds

After the Gulf War, the Chief of Staff at the time, Ehud Barak, decided to initiate an operation called "Operation Thornbush", where the elite Sayeret Matkal unit would attempt to assassinate Iraq's President, Saddam Hussein.

The controversial operation, which had critics due to its seemingly low success probability, involved deploying the force to Iraq using two "Yas'ur" helicopters, then splitting into two teams. One would camouflage at a distance while preparing for the actual mission. The training was divided into two phases – a "dry" run without live fire, and a "wet" run with live firing in an empty zone. However, during the "dry" phase, two "Tamuz" missiles were accidentally launched towards the soldiers on the ground.

Five soldiers were killed by the firing, and another five were injured.

This tragedy was termed the "Zikim Tragedy B," distinguishing it from an event that took place two years prior at the same base where five soldiers also died in a training accident, known retroactively as "Zikim Tragedy A."