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Israeli army indicts soldiers over unlawful acts in Gaza war

Xinhua, April 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Prosecution announced on Sunday that it filed its first three indictments against Israeli soldiers for their criminal behavior during Israel's military campaign in the Gaza Strip last summer.

According to a statement by the IDF spokesperson, the indictments were filed last week against three Israeli soldiers, with two of them suspected of embezzling about 2,400 shekels (615 U.S. dollars) from a home in Shajaiya neighborhood in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge.

The third soldier is suspected of helping the two soldiers to cover up their acts. They are also charged with the obstruction of justice for trying to hide evidence and lying to investigators.

Following the Gaza war, former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz established a Fact Finding Assessment Mechanism to handle claims over unlawful military activity during the 50-day war, delivered by human rights organizations and the United Nations.

The IDF Advocate General Maj.-Gen. Danny Efroni gave an update on March 19 on the status of over 120 suspicious incidents, both operational and criminal, believed to have been perpetrated by Israeli soldiers.

Among others, Maj.-Gen. Efroni ordered the military police to open criminal investigations into six potentially unlawful acts, including the shelling of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) School in Jabalia on July 30 that killed 21 people and injured over 100.

Efroni stated that there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the attack on the UNRWA school was not conducted in accordance with the IDF's rules of conduct and therefore ordered the criminal probe.

More than 2,200 Palestinians were killed including hundreds of children, during the two-month war. About 18,000 homes were destroyed or badly damaged and more than 100,000 Palestinians have been displaced.

More than 70 Israelis were killed during the war, mainly soldiers as well as several citizens who died from rocket fire propelled by Hamas, the ruler of the Gaza Strip enclave since 2007, against communities throughout Israel. Endit