JERUSALEM, 14 October 2004 — The Israeli Army yesterday suspended a platoon commander on suspicion he emptied an ammunition clip into a 13-year-old Palestinian girl from close range after she had already collapsed under fire.
The officer was not charged, but came under investigation after fellow soldiers said he engaged in an illegal practice known as “verifying a kill.”
In a nearby Palestinian refugee camp, a 5th-grade girl died yesterday after being shot in the chest the day before while sitting at her desk in a school. The army said it fired at the camp in response to mortar fire from the area of the school. A UN aid agency denied the army claim, saying the camp was quiet at the time.
In other developments yesterday, the army expanded its two-week-old offensive in the northern Gaza Strip, with tanks moving deeper into the town of Beit Lahiya.
The Israeli Army killed three Palestinians and wounded seven others, including four children between the ages of 5 and 16, hospital officials said. One of the Palestinians was killed by a missile strike, and two by a tank shell, witnesses said.
Israel’s deputy defense minister, Zeev Boim, told Israel Army Radio that “the expansion of the operation proves we don’t mean to let up” and that the number of rocket attacks has dropped.
In New York, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Tuesday he was deeply troubled by the Israeli raid, and that he “grieves for the many children who have been killed or wounded in these operations.”
The offensive was triggered by a Palestinian rocket attack Sept. 29 that killed two Israeli preschoolers. Since then, 102 Palestinians have been killed in northern Gaza, including 18 under the age of 16.
Despite the heavy army presence, two more Qassam rockets were fired yesterday. They fell in empty areas, causing no injuries, but for the first time triggered an early warning system Israel installed in the Israeli border town of Sderot last month. Sirens go off about 20 seconds before the rockets land.
In the West Bank, Israeli troops caught the commander of Hamas in the city of Hebron, after surrounding his hide-out. The Hamas chief, Eymad Qawasmeh, is suspected of having dispatched a number of bombers, including two who blew themselves up Aug. 31 on Israeli buses, killing 16 people.
Qawasmeh emerged from his hide-out after soldiers ordered him to strip to his underwear, to ensure he was not armed. The house was demolished.
“Eymad Qawasmeh is a mass murderer whose hands are covered with the blood of many Israeli citizens,” Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said.
The incident that prompted the suspension of the platoon commander took place on Oct. 5 near the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza. At the time, 13-year-old Iman Al-Hams was walking south of the camp. Her relatives said she was on her way to school when she was shot by soldiers from a nearby outpost.
Several soldiers from the outpost have since told Israeli media that after the girl collapsed, the platoon commander ran toward her and fired a volley from his automatic rifle from close range. Under open-fire regulations, soldiers may only shoot when their lives are in danger. Col. Eyal Eisenberg, an army commander in Gaza, told Israel Army Radio yesterday he has suspended the platoon commander pending the outcome of the investigation. Eisenberg said the investigation would be conducted quickly and that there would be no whitewash.
In the Khan Yunis refugee camp in southern Gaza, meanwhile, a 10-year-old Palestinian girl, Ghadir Mukheimar, died of injuries she sustained a day earlier, while sitting at her desk in a UN-run elementary school.
The army said soldiers fired toward the UN compound after mortar shells were launched from there at Jewish settlements and army outposts. UNRWA denied the claim, saying the camp was quiet and that no mortars were fired from within UN grounds.
Peter Hansen, the UNRWA chief, said that the incident marked the second time in several weeks that an elementary school girl was killed while in school. “That two young children have been shot and killed, sitting at their desks in UNRWA schools in the last month is horrific by anyone’s standards. Schools should be havens of peace,” he said in a statement.
— Additional input from agencies
