Israel drops slaughter investigation
Wednesday 02 May 2012
Printable
EmailIsrael announced today that it has closed its investigation into an air strike that killed 21 members of a single Palestinian family.
It said it would not file any charges related to one of the bloodiest incidents in Israel's 2009 onslaught on Gaza.
Deputy Military Advocate for Operational Matters Major Dorit Tuval said the military prosecution has decided not to take any legal action against those responsible for the massacre.
He claimed: "The investigation completely disproved any claim about deliberate harm to civilians, as well as haste and recklessness about possible harm to civilians, or criminal negligence."
Israeli human rights group B'tselem said the military's response "demonstrates yet again the need for an Israeli investigation mechanism that is external to the army."
Salah Samouni, whose two-year-old daughter was killed, said: "If they escaped trial, they can't escape god's punishment."
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