The Israeli military yesterday said it had closed its investigation into the shelling deaths of 21 members of a single Palestinian family and would not file any charges in what was one of the gravest incidents in the 2009 war in the Gaza Strip.
The military’s move, which exonerates Israeli soldiers from any responsibility in the killings, outraged relatives of the killed Palestinians and Israeli human rights group that had pressed for the investigation. They said the findings proved the army was not capable of investigating the conduct of its soldiers.
“We are talking about a crime against civilians,” said Salah Samouni, 34, whose two-year-old daughter was killed when Israeli shells slammed into the Gaza City house where the family had gathered.
“We know that God above will punish the killers. If they escaped trial, they can’t escape God’s punishment,” said Samouni, who survived the shelling.
Israel launched the three-week offensive in Gaza in response to months of rocket fire by the ruling Hamas militant group. About 1,400 Palestinians were killed in the fighting, including hundreds of civilians, and thousands of buildings were destroyed or damaged. Thirteen Israelis also died.
Surviving members of the Samouni family had claimed the family was ordered by Israeli soldiers to take refuge in a house that was then shelled, killing 21 people.
In its findings, the Israeli military said its investigation “totally refuted” allegations that the incident was a war crime. It denied the building was deliberately targeted or that soldiers acted recklessly.
Following the war, a UN report accused Israel of deliberately attacking civilians in its campaign against Hamas militants.
The report’s lead author, South African jurist Richard Goldstone, later questioned that finding, although the report was never modified or withdrawn.
The report also accused Hamas militants of targeting Israeli civilians and said that both sides may have committed war crimes.
B’tselem, an Israeli human rights group, said it was “intolerable” that the military exonerated itself of responsibility in the Samouni case.
The military’s response “demonstrates yet again the need for an Israeli investigation mechanism that is external to the army,” it said.
The Israeli military has filed three indictments against soldiers who took part in the operation, and in three other cases, disciplinary action alone was taken.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese