Occupied Jerusalem: The Israeli military said yesterday 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 the Israeli human rights group that had pressed for the investigation. They said the findings proved the army is 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.
Refuge
Israel launched the three-week invasion in Gaza where 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 fighters. 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South African jurist Richard Goldstone, later questioned that finding, although the report was never modified or withdrawn.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 fighters of targeting Israeli civilians, and said that both sides may have committed war crimes.
B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, said that 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."
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.
