Israel's military prosecution
announced Tuesday that no legal steps will be taken against those
responsible for the killing of 21 members of the Samouni family during
the 2009 Operation Cast Lead in Gaza.
A letter was received
by the human rights group B'Tselem from Major Dorit Tuval, Deputy Military
Advocate for Operational Matters. Tuval said that the case has
been closed after the investigation has found that the attack on the
civilians, "who did not take part in the fighting," and their killing
were not done knowingly and directly, or out of haste and negligence "in
a manner that would indicate criminal responsibility."
B'Tselem activists condemned the decision and
called for an alternative investigatory body to probe such incidents.
On the morning
of January 4, Givati commanders ordered the dozens of members of the
extended Samouni family to leave the three-story house (the home of
Talal Samouni), which they then turned into their outpost. The soldiers
told them to gather in the one-story home of Wail Samouni, on the other
side of the road and about 30 meters southeast. The Samounis took
the fact that the soldiers themselves concentrated the
family in one building, and saw that there were infants, children,
women, elderly people and unarmed men, as insurance that they would not
be harmed(1)
If there's enough evidence for prosecution then it should go ahead. Canceling the process like this, at worst, is just a cover up. And if they are innocent of outright crimes, then what is going to be done instead? The blockade of Gaza is still illegal & was supposed to have been lifted in 2008.
No comments:
Post a Comment