Killing A 13
Year Old
By Chris McGreal
24 Novembe, 2004
The
Guardian
An Israeli army officer who repeatedly
shot a 13-year-old Palestinian girl in Gaza dismissed a warning from
another soldier that she was a child by saying he would have killed
her even if she was three years old.
The officer, identified
by the army only as Captain R, was charged this week with illegal use
of his weapon, conduct unbecoming an officer and other relatively minor
infractions after emptying all 10 bullets from his gun's magazine into
Iman al-Hams when she walked into a "security area" on the
edge of Rafah refugee camp last month.
A tape recording
of radio exchanges between soldiers involved in the incident, played
on Israeli television, contradicts the army's account of the events
and appears to show that the captain shot the girl in cold blood.
The official account
claimed that Iman was shot as she walked towards an army post with her
schoolbag because soldiers feared she was carrying a bomb.
But the tape recording
of the radio conversation between soldiers at the scene reveals that,
from the beginning, she was identified as a child and at no point was
a bomb spoken about nor was she described as a threat. Iman was also
at least 100 yards from any soldier.
Instead, the tape
shows that the soldiers swiftly identified her as a "girl of about
10" who was "scared to death".
The tape also reveals
that the soldiers said Iman was headed eastwards, away from the army
post and back into the refugee camp, when she was shot.
At that point, Captain
R took the unusual decision to leave the post in pursuit of the girl.
He shot her dead and then "confirmed the kill" by emptying
his magazine into her body.
The tape recording is of a three-way conversation between the army watchtower,
the army post's operations room and the captain, who was a company commander.
The soldier in the
watchtower radioed his colleagues after he saw Iman: "It's a little
girl. She's running defensively eastward."
Operations room:
"Are we talking about a girl under the age of 10?"
Watchtower: "A
girl of about 10, she's behind the embankment, scared to death."
A few minutes later,
Iman is shot in the leg from one of the army posts.
The watchtower:
"I think that one of the positions took her out."
The company commander
then moves in as Iman lies wounded and helpless.
Captain R: "I
and another soldier ... are going in a little nearer, forward, to confirm
the kill ... Receive a situation report. We fired and killed her ...
I also confirmed the kill. Over."
Witnesses described
how the captain shot Iman twice in the head, walked away, turned back
and fired a stream of bullets into her body. Doctors at Rafah's hospital
said she had been shot at least 17 times.
On the tape, the
company commander then "clarifies" why he killed Iman: "This
is commander. Anything that's mobile, that moves in the zone, even if
it's a three-year-old, needs to be killed. Over."
The army's original
account of the killing said that the soldiers only identified Iman as
a child after she was first shot. But the tape shows that they were
aware just how young the small, slight girl was before any shots were
fired.
The case came to
light after soldiers under the command of Captain R went to an Israeli
newspaper to accuse the army of covering up the circumstances of the
killing.
A subsequent investigation
by the officer responsible for the Gaza strip, Major General Dan Harel,
concluded that the captain had "not acted unethically".
However, the military
police launched an investigation, which resulted in charges against
the unit commander.
Iman's parents have
accused the army of whitewashing the affair by filing minor charges
against Captain R. They want him prosecuted for murder.
Record of a shooting
Watchtower
'It's a little girl. She's running defensively eastward'
Operations room
'Are we talking about a girl under the age of 10?'
Watchtower
'A girl of about 10, she's behind the embankment, scared to death'
Captain R (after killing the girl)
'Anything moving in the zone, even a three-year-old, needs to be killed'