Israeli officer charged over 13-year-old girl's death

JERUSALEM - An Israeli Army captain accused of riddling a 13-year-old Palestinian girl's body with bullets after his unit killed her was charged yesterday with conduct unbecoming an officer and illegally firing a weapon.

Military police investigating the October 5 killing of Iman al-Hams in the southern Gaza Strip arrested the company commander three weeks ago after finding his earlier account of the incident to be false, Army prosecutors said.

Hams was shot some 20 times near an Army outpost on her way to school in Rafah, a town on Gaza's border with Egypt that has seen frequent violence during a four-year Palestinian uprising.

Army chief Lieutenant-General Moshe Yaalon told Israel's Cabinet the soldiers opened fire because they believed the girl was carrying a bomb or had been sent by militants to lure them out so they could be picked off by snipers.

But a probe was launched after unidentified troops from the outpost told Israeli media the commander went out and fired at Hams although the unit's initial shots had already killed her.

"The defendant ... took up a firm stance very close to her, aimed his weapon downward and fired two shots at her from a short range," the indictment said, citing witness testimony.

It said the captain began walking back to the outpost but then "turned around ... and fired [at Hams], in full automatic mode, around 10 bullets, until his rifle magazine was empty".

The captain's lawyer said his client had delivered a coup de grace in keeping with the military practice of firing into the bodies of combatants to ensure they presented no further danger, but did not continue shooting once he realised Hams was dead.

"There is nothing in the case to prove a criminal act," said Shmuel Shenfeld.

The officer is also charged with obstructing the Army probe and endangering military personnel.

If convicted on all counts, he could be jailed for a maximum of 13 years, but a military prosecutor declined to say what sentence would be sought.

"We want a penalty that will be tough and send a clear message deterring such actions," Captain Ran Cohen said.

The defendant had been ordered confined to an Army base for two months, pending the next hearing, he said.

The case has revived human rights groups' charges that Israeli troops use excessive force in the West Bank and Gaza.

"The process of dehumanisation has reached a peak during the last four years," the liberal Israeli newspaper Haaretz said in an editorial this week.

"And certainly where there is no respect for human life, there can be no respect for the dead."

The Israeli Army says its troops behave ethically in the face of Palestinian militants who often use suicide tactics, and that all abuse complaints are investigated.

- REUTERS