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From the Israeli Press
IDF sniper gets 49 days for killing boy
By Amos Harel
Ha'aretz Military Correspondent
An IDF soldier who killed a 14-year-old Palestinian boy in Gaza has been sentenced to 49
days in jail by his commanding officer.
But despite the severity of the incident, the military police have not yet opened an
investigation.
The incident occurred on February 3, when the soldier, a member of the Givati Brigade,
fired a 0.22 millimeter sniper's rifle at Issa Ibrahim
al-Amur. Al-Amur, who was passing by a Palestinian school near the settlement of Kfar
Darom at the time, was not endangering Israeli soldiers or civilians in any way. He was
hit in the stomach and later died of his wounds.
The soldier was found to have opened fire in direct violation of the rules of engagement,
in a situation which did not justify shooting.
His sentence was reported in Friday's edition of the Kol Ha'ir newspaper.
The IDF spokesman said in response that the soldier had fired at the boy's legs in an area
where there was a total ban on Palestinian
movement. Nevertheless, he confirmed that the soldier had acted in violation of the
"norms and orders in the sector."
Over the last five months of fighting, in which about 400 Palestinians have been killed,
the military police have opened only five
investigations of soldiers suspected of using their weapons illegally.
Though a handful of soldiers have been sentenced to jail for such incidents by their
commanding officers, in field court-martials, not a
single soldier has yet been indicted in a military court.
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