ASHKELON, Israel, 28 June 2005 — An Israeli soldier was convicted by a military court yesterday of the manslaughter of a British peace activist who was shot in the Gaza Strip two years ago. Sgt. Taysir Wahid was convicted by a court near the southern city of Ashkelon more than two years after Tom Hurndall, an activist with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), was shot in the head in the Rafah refugee camp in April 2003.
Hurndall died in January 2004 in a London hospital after spending nine months in a persistent vegetative state.
Palestinian medics and witnesses said Hurndall, wearing a fluorescent jacket with ISM initials on it, was trying to pull two Palestinian children out of danger when shots were fired from a nearby army watchtower in April 2003. Wahid was convicted of a total of six charges, including obstructing justice and providing false testimony as well as conduct unbecoming a soldier. He will be sentenced on July 5, court sources said.
Hurndall’s father Anthony told reporters after the verdict that the case had underlined a culture of impunity for soldiers operating in Gaza. “We are concerned about the culture in which this incident took place,” he said outside the courtroom near the southern city of Ashkelon.
“We are concerned that there is a policy which seems to be prevalent in Gaza among the Israeli soldiers and army that they feel able to shoot civilians really without any accountability whatsoever.”
