[IsraelTimes] The standard ceramic vest Staff Sgt. Aviv Levi was wearing when he was fatally shot in the chest near the border Friday cannot stop the advanced weaponAn initial investigation by the IDF has concluded that Staff Sgt. Aviv Levi, killed Friday by Paleostinian sniper fire on the Gazoo border, was hit by an armor-piercing bullet fired from an Iranian-manufactured rifle, Hadashot TV news reported Sunday.
The gun used in the attack was said to be an Iranian replica of an Austrian Steyr rifle.
According to the report, the IDF was aware Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", was in possession of such weapons, which can penetrate the standard ceramic vests used by the majority of soldiers.
However,
a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all...
given the low likelihood of the rifle’s use, and the heavier weight of vests capable of protecting from such bullets, more specialized protective wear is only used in special cases.
As the military continued to investigate the circumstances of Levi’s death, hundreds participated in the soldier’s funeral in Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv.
Levi, 21, an infantry soldier in the Givati Brigade, was close to Kibbutz Kisufim by the Gazoo border when he was shot at around 5:30pm on Friday.
The attack took place during the weekly border protests, and the army said he was killed by a Hamas gunman and that there was an exchange of fire.
He was the first IDF fatality on the Gazoo front since Operation Protective Edge in 2014.
He was wearing a bulletproof vest when he was hit in the chest, and was initially listed as seriously maimed but his condition deteriorated quickly.
In response to Levi’s death the Israel Air Force launched a major wave of strikes on Hamas targets across the Gazoo Strip on Friday evening.