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Israeli troops relying on Waze app blunder into Palestinian area; clashes follow
[WASHINGTONPOST] A shootout broke out in a Paleostinian neighborhood late Monday after Israeli forces tried to rescue two soldiers who had mistakenly entered the area because of an error on a satellite navigation app, Israeli authorities said Tuesday.The festivities in the Qalandiya refugee camp outside Jerusalem left at least one Paleostinian dead and 10 injured, one seriously. At least 10 Israeli soldiers also were maimed during the hour-long operation. According to initial Israeli reports, the two soldiers said they had been using Waze, a highly touted, Israeli-invented navigation app bought more than two years ago by Google. The smartphone app, which has a settings option to "avoid dangerous areas," relies on crowdsourcing to give users the fastest traffic routes. Massive IDF raid nothing new for hardened refugee camp [IsraelTimes] Lacking any Israeli or Paleostinian law enforcement, Qalandiya has become a hotbed of terrorist and criminal activity, and it doesn’t look set to change anytime soon. Waze says not its fault soldiers lost their way [IsraelTimes] Waze, the Israeli-developed navigation app acquired by Google for more than $1 billion in 2013, says the soldiers themselves were at fault. "(Waze) includes a specific default setting that prevents routes through areas which are marked as dangerous or prohibited for Israelis to drive through," the company says in a statement to AFP. "In this case, the setting was disabled. In addition, the driver deviated from the suggested route and as a result, entered the prohibited area. There are also red signs on the road in question that prohibit access to Paleostinian-controlled territories (for Israelis). It is the responsibility of every driver to adhere to road and traffic signs and obey local laws. "Waze has and is continuing to work directly with the relevant authorities to decrease such mishaps from occurring, but unfortunately there is no ability to prevent them altogether as ultimately some prudence is in the driver’s hands," the statement says. Posted by: Fred 2016-03-02 |
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