- Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, has rejected a
recommendation by military leaders to withdraw troops after a bloody two-week
incursion into Gaza.
-
- The operation, codenamed Days of Penitence, is set to
continue indefinitely despite mounting criticism from the general staff
and the armed forces' southern command.
-
- It was launched after Hamas fired home-made Qassam rockets
into the southern Israeli town of Sderot, killing two children. The operation
officially aims to end the rocket threat.
-
- But growing domestic concern and mounting international
criticism over the excessive use of force, with Palestinian casualties
now numbering more than 100, have been reinforced by allegations about
the killing of a 13-year-old girl in Rafah at the southern end of the Gaza
Strip last week.
-
- Yesterday the armed forces launched an official investigation
into the killing of Iman Alhamas by soldiers of the Givati Brigade.
-
- According to the army's official explanation of the incident,
the soldier who shot the girl believed she was a terrorist and that her
school bag contained explosives. It was later found that she was carrying
school books.
-
- The story took a dramatic turn when soldiers told the
newspaper Yediot Ahronoth that their company commander, who was at the
scene, walked up to the girl's body immediately after the shooting and
"emptied his magazine" into her.
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- © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2004.
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