ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS/GAZA-BOYS Israel closes probe into killing of 4 boys on Gaza beach

Record ID: 151324

  • Title: ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS/GAZA-BOYS Israel closes probe into killing of 4 boys on Gaza beach
  • Date: 16th June 2015
  • Summary: GAZA CITY, GAZA (JUNE 14, 2015) (REUTERS) FATHER OF ONE OF THE CHILDREN WHO WAS KILLED IN ISRAELI ATTACK, MOHAMED BAKER, WALKING AWAY BAKER WITH CHILDREN AT HOME
  • Embargoed: 1st July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Gaza
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA6CRDEC33I2HISN82Z6ZU0UU4L
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Israel's killing of four Palestinian boys in an air strike on a Gaza beach during the 2014 war was a case of mistaken identity that does not warrant criminal charges, the military says.
    Witnessed by several foreign reporters, the July 16 attack fuelled censure abroad of Israel's assault on the Hamas-run enclave. The Israelis have been conducting internal investigations of possible military misconduct while trying to fend off war-crimes allegations by various U.N. bodies.
    Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner, an Israeli military spokesman, said the air force fired on the four boys after failing to identify them as children and believing they were gunmen running in an area "utilized exclusively by militants".
    "After reviewing the investigation's findings, the Military Advocate General found that the attack process in question accorded with Israeli domestic law and international law requirements," Lerner said on Facebook. He called the deaths "tragic".
    Witnesses said the boys were playing soccer at the time.
    "Israel decides for itself what is true or not true. Our children are the same as like other children around the world. Children of Baker family are same like children around the world, like children of Britain, France, Germany and America. All the free nations are supporting us we have the right and we will achieve victory because we have the right. Our children were playing at the beach, what they have done to be killed in cold blood," asked Mohamed Baker, father of one of the children who was killed in the attack.
    "At the end they are closing the case of children of Baker family. We, Baker family, will not close the case. It will be open and will be taken to the International Criminal Court (ICC)," said Salwa Baker, mother of one of the children who was killed in the attack.
    Launched after a surge of cross-border rocket fire by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, Israel's two-month offensive killed more than 2,100 Palestinians, mostly civilians. Sixty-seven Israeli soldiers and six civilians in Israel also died.
    Israel says it tried to prevent civilian casualties and accuses Hamas of inviting these by operating inside urban areas. Israel's critics accuse it of wanton tactics and impunity.
    In a separate statement, the military said it was also closing the cases on July 21 and July 29 attacks on residential buildings that killed 22 Palestinians. A July 9 attack on a Gaza cafe that killed 9 people was under criminal investigation, it said, as well allegations that troops abused a Palestinian detainee and illegally fired on a Gaza medical clinic.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register