Isn't the arbitrary execution of a 13 year old Girl allready unethical?

[Klaus]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3748054.stm

An inquiry began after soldiers told the story of 13-year-old Iman al-Hams's death to the media, provoking an outcry among many Israelis.

...


"We saw her from a distance of 70m. She was fired at ... from the outpost. She fled and was wounded," a soldier said.

While Iman was lying, wounded or dead, about 70m from the Israeli guard post, the platoon commander approached her and fired two bullets from close range at her head, the soldiers said.

He then went back a second time, put his weapon on the automatic setting and - ignoring their objections on the walkie-talkie - emptied his entire magazine into her body.

But the army says it accepts the commander's claim that he fired into the ground near the girl after coming under fire in a dangerous area.

It has not explained why the officer shot into the ground rather than at the source of the fire.

"The investigation did not find that the company or the company commander had acted unethically," an army statement said.

more informations on this case:
Israelis probe Gaza girl shooting
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3733638.stm

not that different:
"Ghadir Mokheimer was hit in the chest when troops opened fire towards the school. "
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3739148.stm
Israeli troops have shot and critically wounded an 11-year-old Palestinian girl standing outside her school in Gaza.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3737218.stm

 

[dandy]

i would hate to see what would actually be considered 'unethical' according to that logic.

 

[DaveC]

fucking sick.

 

[Felicity]

 

[A_Wanderer]

The Givati platoon commander, who is suspected of making sure a Palestinian girl was dead (a military procedure in which a soldier makes sure an enemy is dead by shooting at him form close range), has been suspended by OC Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Dan Harel.

Harel decided to suspend the commander in spite of the fact that the IDF investigation of the incident has yet to be completed, and with it the conclusion whether he had indeed fired a burst at the body of 13-year-old Iman Alhans.

According to preliminary findings, it is believed that the platoon commander failed to disclose the entire truth surrounding the incident. Maj. Gen. Harel decided to suspend him based on the interim report.

However, two different versions were voiced by soldiers who witnessed or took part in the incident. According to some veteran soldiers, the commander shot more than 20 bullets at the girl, in spite of knowing she was already dead.

Other soldiers, however, said that the commander fired two bullets at her from a distance, out of concern she was wearing a bomb belt, and then opened fire in the direction of Rafah, in response to Palestinian gunshots. They contend that the veteran soldiers wished to frame the commander due to the tough manner in which he ran the platoon.

During his interrogation, the platoon commander claimed he did not fire a burst at the girl. He said the veteran soldiers were trying to frame him after he attempted to end a number of humiliating rituals accustomed in the platoon. His family members told Maariv that their son “was being lynched”.

Alhans was shot dead last week after she had entered restricted territory on the Philadelphi route near Rafah, after soliders suspected she was carrying an explosive charge in her bag.

Firstly although the preliminary finding the commander is under criminal investigation and is suspended from duty. If what the veteran soliders are saying is true then the IDF is sending the clear message that it was an intollerable criminal act.

Now secondly there are two sides to the story, the testimony of the veteran soldiers against that of the commander. Either the soldiers are trying to frame him or the commander murdered a little girl - both of these are immoral actions.

Another point is that in the disputed territories things are not cut and dry. The PLO terrorists regularly use children as part of their attacks (only last week two PLO Arab teenage girls were arrested for planning a suicide attack http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satell...le/ShowFull&cid=1096959300034&p=1006688055060). The IDF Chief of Staff belives that this is what happened.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon told the Cabinet this week that the girl had been dispatched by terrorists as a decoy in order to draw out soldiers and turn them into targets for terrorist snipers. Yaalon explained that the girl was in a closed military area. In addition, the girl reportedly threw a bag at them - a suspicious move, under the circumstances, even though the bag was later found to contain only schoolbooks and no explosives.

And the girls mother has an account which raises even more questions.

According to the girl's mother, Iman al-Hams was killed as she ran toward Israeli soldiers October 5 in Rafah, in Gaza.

"She was on her way to school. There was a lot of shooting that morning and when she heard it, she became hysterical. Instead of running back home she ran towards the soldiers," said Hwaydeh Salman al-Hams.

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/10/13/mideast.violence/index.html

This entire case is very sad but it is not indiciative of IDF policy on the matter, the IDF does not have a policy of going out and murdering innocent civilians - if somebody does then they are punished very severely as any murderer would be.

 

[U2democrat]

what a hopelessly depressing world we live in.

 

[Dr_Macphisto]

beep