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Banned
Two Israeli soldiers were today convicted of using a nine-year-old Palestinian boy as a human shield during the three-week Gaza war in 2008-9 and could face a prison sentence of up to three years.
The soldiers, who ordered the boy to open bags suspected of containing explosives, were charged with inappropriate behaviour and overstepping authority in a closed military trial.
Israeli military protocols forbid the use of human shields.
"The option of using a civilian, especially a child, was not among the legitimate options at the defendants' disposal," the judges said in their verdict. "Combat is no excuse for applying improper force."
The child's mother told the Ynet news website that her son had been traumatised by the incident and now demanded that the door to their apartment be kept locked all the time.
Supporters of the two soldiers protested outside the court wearing T-shirts saying "We are all Goldstone's victims" in reference to the UN report accusing Israel of war crimes during the conflict. The use of human shields is prohibited under the Geneva conventions.
The verdict came as a Palestinian man was shot dead while trying to enter Israel near East Jerusalem.
The man, Izz al-Din Qawezba, a 38-year-old labourer and father of six, was among around 15 workers being pursued by border police.
According to the police, the gun was fired accidentally during a struggle. This version was disputed by the dead man's cousin, who was at the scene and claimed Qawezba was shot at close range while running away from the officer.
Ahmed Tibi, an Israeli Arab member of the Knesset, said in a statement: "Once again Israel's police officers and border police shoot and kill an Arab in cold blood. This time it was a father to many children who was trying to enter Jerusalem to find work for livelihood.
"Again the automatic false claim was made that a Palestinian tried to take a border policeman's weapon."
Meanwhile, Israel's supreme court will tomorrow hear an appeal by Nobel peace laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire, who has been held in a detention cell since last Tuesday after being refused entry into Israel at Ben-Gurion airport.
The authorities attempted to deport Corrigan Maguire, a peace activist from Northern Ireland who has become an outspoken critic of Israeli government policies, saying she was banned from the country after participating in an attempt to break the blockade of Gaza by sea.
Corrigan Maguire refused to board a Lufthansa flight out of Israel. A court hearing on Friday rejected her case.
Efforts to prevent the breakdown of Israeli-Palestinian talks, following the expiry of the 10-month freeze on settlement building a week ago, continued over the weekend.
On Saturday, the Palestinian leadership insisted on an extension of the moratorium for talks to continue, although a final decision will be taken at an Arab League meeting in Libya on Friday.
The US is pressing Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, to prolong the settlement building freeze by 60 days in exchange of a raft of guarantees on security and military aid.
Israel, meanwhile, was reported to have expressed concern at a planned visit to Lebanon this week by the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, citing a proposal to visit the area close to the border between Lebanon and Israel.
Israeli officials have described the visit as a "provocation", and the Israeli media have quoted a report in an Arabic newspaper that the Iranian leader intends to throw stones at Israeli soldiers.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/03/israel-soldiers-human-shield-palestinian
The soldiers, who ordered the boy to open bags suspected of containing explosives, were charged with inappropriate behaviour and overstepping authority in a closed military trial.
Israeli military protocols forbid the use of human shields.
"The option of using a civilian, especially a child, was not among the legitimate options at the defendants' disposal," the judges said in their verdict. "Combat is no excuse for applying improper force."
The child's mother told the Ynet news website that her son had been traumatised by the incident and now demanded that the door to their apartment be kept locked all the time.
Supporters of the two soldiers protested outside the court wearing T-shirts saying "We are all Goldstone's victims" in reference to the UN report accusing Israel of war crimes during the conflict. The use of human shields is prohibited under the Geneva conventions.
The verdict came as a Palestinian man was shot dead while trying to enter Israel near East Jerusalem.
The man, Izz al-Din Qawezba, a 38-year-old labourer and father of six, was among around 15 workers being pursued by border police.
According to the police, the gun was fired accidentally during a struggle. This version was disputed by the dead man's cousin, who was at the scene and claimed Qawezba was shot at close range while running away from the officer.
Ahmed Tibi, an Israeli Arab member of the Knesset, said in a statement: "Once again Israel's police officers and border police shoot and kill an Arab in cold blood. This time it was a father to many children who was trying to enter Jerusalem to find work for livelihood.
"Again the automatic false claim was made that a Palestinian tried to take a border policeman's weapon."
Meanwhile, Israel's supreme court will tomorrow hear an appeal by Nobel peace laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire, who has been held in a detention cell since last Tuesday after being refused entry into Israel at Ben-Gurion airport.
The authorities attempted to deport Corrigan Maguire, a peace activist from Northern Ireland who has become an outspoken critic of Israeli government policies, saying she was banned from the country after participating in an attempt to break the blockade of Gaza by sea.
Corrigan Maguire refused to board a Lufthansa flight out of Israel. A court hearing on Friday rejected her case.
Efforts to prevent the breakdown of Israeli-Palestinian talks, following the expiry of the 10-month freeze on settlement building a week ago, continued over the weekend.
On Saturday, the Palestinian leadership insisted on an extension of the moratorium for talks to continue, although a final decision will be taken at an Arab League meeting in Libya on Friday.
The US is pressing Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, to prolong the settlement building freeze by 60 days in exchange of a raft of guarantees on security and military aid.
Israel, meanwhile, was reported to have expressed concern at a planned visit to Lebanon this week by the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, citing a proposal to visit the area close to the border between Lebanon and Israel.
Israeli officials have described the visit as a "provocation", and the Israeli media have quoted a report in an Arabic newspaper that the Iranian leader intends to throw stones at Israeli soldiers.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/03/israel-soldiers-human-shield-palestinian
