- Military police this week arrested and questioned the
Israel Defense Forces soldier suspected of shooting British civilian Tom
Hurndall in Rafah last April.
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- Hurndall suffered severe brain damage as a result of
the shooting and lies in a vegetative state in England. His family has
begun proceedings allowing him to eventually be disconnected from respiratory
and other life-support systems.
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- Hurndall, 22, a student from Manchester and a member
of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), was wounded by IDF gunfire
directed at Palestinians in the Yabne neighborhood of the Rafah refugee
camp an April 11, 2003. Other ISM activists on the scene at the time of
the incident charged that IDF snipers starting shooting at Palestinians
- including children - in the street without any provocation.
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- In England, Hurndall's mother welcomed the arrest and
said it must be made clear to Israeli soldiers that they were answerable
for their actions and could not shoot with impunity.
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- The soldier suspected of shooting Hurndall, whose remand
the Southern Command military tribunal extended Wednesday by seven days,
initially claimed that he returned fire after an armed Palestinian shot
at him. He later "admitted to firing in proximity to an unarmed civilian
as a deterrent," said a release from the army.
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- The IDF has updated the British Embassy in Israel on
developments in the case.
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- Hurndall's mother Jocelyn welcomed the arrest but said
she was still dubious about the outcome of the military inquiry. "I
remain skeptical... but I'm hopeful," she told Sky news. "I think
this is the first positive step.
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- "We wish the rules of engagement in Israel to be
looked at extremely seriously," she said. "We wish every Israeli
soldier to get the message very clearly that they cannot shoot with impunity,
that they are answerable for their actions."
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- The IDF has previously agreed only to carry out an internal
investigation with the soldier's unit, the Bedouin patrol battalion.
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- The Hurndalls said they had received the findings of
the unit inquiry but that the findings presented by Israeli military authorities
until now indicated a childish and unsubstantial investigation.
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- The investigation into the circumstances of the incident
commenced six months after the shooting, on the directive of Judge Advocate
General head Major General Menachem Finkelstein.
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