Trial Begins for Israeli Soldier in Shooting of Palestinian Girl

An Israeli soldier went on trial in a military court Thursday on charges of repeatedly shooting a 13-year-old Palestinian girl.

Soldiers fired at the girl, Iman Hamss, as she approached a military observation post Oct. 5 near the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.

The soldiers said they thought she was planting a bomb. The girl’s family said she was on her way to school.

According to the five-count indictment, the officer approached the girl after she was shot and fired two rounds at her from close range to ensure she was dead, an action that is outlawed. He walked away, turned and shot her again, the indictment charged.

“According to the evidence, the officer shot the body of the young Palestinian child,” prosecutor Ronen Ketsev told journalists. “Under the circumstances, he had absolutely no reason to do so.”

The officer also tried to persuade some of his soldiers to lie about the case, Ketsev said.

Yoav Mali, a defense attorney, denied that the girl was just walking past the military post.

“She was not innocent,” Mali told reporters at the court. “She was there to commit, to take part in a terrorist attack on the post or near the post.”

The soldier, who has not been identified to the public, has been charged with two counts of illegally using his weapon, and one count each of obstruction of justice, conduct unbecoming an officer and improper use of authority.

Palestinian hospital officials said the girl was shot at least 15 times, mostly in the upper body.

In four years of Israeli-Palestinian violence, hundreds of young Palestinians have been killed by army fire, often in clashes between stone throwers and Israeli troops. The army rarely launches investigations.

Israeli soldiers have become increasingly wary of Palestinian teenagers and women, after several carried out suicide bombings or transported explosives.

In violence around the region Thursday, a Palestinian militant leader survived an Israeli missile strike on his car in the Gaza Strip, and Israeli aircraft destroyed a trailer outside another militant’s home.

An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed an airstrike in the town of Beit Lahiya. She said the target made and stored munitions.

Jamal abu Samhadana, head of the Popular Resistance Committees, an umbrella organization of militant factions, was slightly wounded in the first attack, along with two aides. The army said he was “responsible for numerous terrorist attacks.”