The Israeli army has closed an investigation into alleged killings of civilians during its offensive in the Gaza Strip, claiming soldiers' testimonies were based on hearsay, "purposely exaggerated" and not supported by facts.
Allegations of wrongful shootings emerged from some soldiers speaking in a closed-door meeting at a military prep school. Their accounts, along with their reports of vandalism in Palestinian homes, were published by Israeli media earlier this month.
The army's chief prosecutor angrily accused the soldiers of harming Israel's international image. "It will be difficult to evaluate the damage done to the image and morals of the Israel Defense Forces and its soldiers ... in Israel and the world," Brig. Gen. Avichai Mendelblit said.
Human rights groups accused the military of carrying out a biased and hasty inquiry that ignored key evidence and urged an independent body be formed to investigate Israeli army activity in Gaza.
One case involved the killing of an elderly woman by a rooftop sniper, and the second described a sniper fatally shooting a mother and two children who had entered a no-go zone, according to a transcript of the testimony.
The soldiers' accounts set off soul-searching in a country where the military is widely revered. They also echoed Palestinian allegations that Israel's assault did not distinguish between civilians and combatants, and fueled assertions by some international rights groups that Israel violated the laws of war.
Israel used unprecedented force during the three-week operation, launched against Gaza's Hamas rulers last December to halt eight years of rocket attacks on Israeli border towns. After a week of aerial bombardments, the military launched a two-week ground offensive.
More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed, including more than 900 civilians, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, which published a list of names of the dead. Israel has said the toll was lower, and the "vast majority" of the dead were militants. But it did not publish a list to support the assertion.
In announcing the findings yesterday, the army said the soldiers' testimonies "were purposely exaggerated and made extreme, in order to make a point" to those attending the closed session.
A joint statement signed by nine Israeli rights groups said the decision to close the investigation without bringing charges "only strengthens the need for the attorney general to allow for an independent nonpartisan investigative body to be established in order to look into all Israeli army activity" in Gaza.
Defence Minister Ehud Barak said the investigation showed that Israel possesses "the most moral army in the world."
However, Danny Zamir, the military prep school director who urged the inquiry, said it did not address other incidents that raise serious ethical questions, such as the wanton destruction of Palestinian homes.
The army still needs to deal with "the whole way that we and our comrades ... treated .. property, houses, holy books," he said, calling for better training in the military.
In a tour of Gaza last week, there was evidence of vandalism and destruction in Palestinian homes commandeered by the Israeli military. Graffiti in Hebrew was scrawled on walls, trash littered the floors and makeshift sniper holes were stuffed with cloth or plastic in several homes.
The case of a 33-year-old resident of the Gaza City neighborhood of Zeitoun bore some similarities to the soldiers' accounts. Abir Hijeh told journalists she was in a group of civilians that came under Israeli fire after soldiers yelled at them to turn around when they headed the wrong way after being expelled from their homes.
Her 2-year-old daughter and a 27-year-old neighbour were killed in the incident, which was confirmed by two area hospitals and a second witness.
The Israeli military has not directly commented on this case, but said all possible deviations from army rules would be investigated.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch said it is investigating a number of cases in which civilians came under fire while trying to leave the war zone.
AP