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Soldier awaits verdict over dead activist

A former Israeli soldier convicted in the fatal shooting of a British activist faced up to 20 years in prison at a sentencing yesterday in a military court.

Taysir Hayb was convicted in June of manslaughter for shooting pro-Palestinian activist Tom Hurndall in the head during an army operation in the Gaza Strip in April 2003. Witnesses said Hurndall, 22, a member of the International Solidarity Movement, was helping Palestinian children avoid Israeli tanks.

Hurndall lay in a coma for nine months before dying in a London hospital.

Hayb had argued that a confession he gave was forced. Hayb, a member of Israel's Bedouin minority, also said he was prosecuted because he is an Arab and because his victim was a foreigner.

Hayb was also convicted of obstruction of justice, submitting false testimony, obtaining false testimony and unbecoming behavior.

The case marked the first time a soldier has been found guilty of killing a foreign citizen during more than four years of Palestinian-Israeli violence.

International Solidarity Movement activists often place themselves between Israeli forces and Palestinians to try to stop the Israeli military from carrying out operations, ignoring orders to leave. Israel complains the protesters are endangering themselves and the soldiers with their activities.

In March 2003, Rachel Corrie, 23, an activist from Olympia, Washington, was crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer in a Gaza refugee camp while trying to stop soldiers from demolishing a house. Her death was ruled accidental. Israel said the building was used as cover by Palestinian militants to attack Israelis.

Two other British citizens have been killed in the current round of Israeli-Palestinian violence, which erupted in September 2000.
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