Israeli Soldier on Trial in Girl's Death - 13 Yr. Old Shot 20 Times

An Israeli soldier went on trial in a military court Thursday on charges of repeatedly shooting a 13-year-old Palestinian girl to make sure she was dead.  Soldiers fired at the girl, Iyman Hams, as she approached a military observation post near the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 5. The soldiers said they thought she was planting a bomb. The girl's family said she was on her way to school. According to the five-count indictment, the officer approached the girl after she was shot and fired two rounds at her body from close range in an outlawed practice known as "verifying the kill." He walked away, turned around and shot her again, the indictment charged. "According to the evidence, the officer shot the body of the young Palestinian child," prosecutor Ronen Ketsev told journalists. "Under the circumstances, he had absolutely no reason to do so." The officer also tried to persuade some of his soldiers to lie about the case, Ketsev said. Yoav Mali, a defense attorney, denied the girl was just walking past the military post. "She was not innocent," Mali told reporters at the court. "She was there to commit, to take part in a terrorist attack on the post or near the post." The soldier, who has not been identified, has been charged with two counts of illegally using his weapon, and one count each of obstruction of justice, conduct unbecoming an officer and improper use of authority. Palestinian hospital officials said the girl was shot at least 15 times, mostly in the upper body. In four years of Israeli-Palestinian violence, hundreds of Palestinian children and teens have been killed by army fire, often in clashes between stone throwers and Israeli troops. The army rarely launches investigations into the incidents. [more]

• Pictured above: Father of 13 year-old Palestinian girl Iyman Hams, mourns over her body at the family home during her funeral in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, in this Oct. 5, 2004 photo. [more]