Israeli guilty of shooting Briton

[Anisa]

A former Israeli soldier has been found guilty of the manslaughter of a British student in the Gaza Strip in 2003.

Ex-sergeant Wahid Taysir was convicted at Castina military court in Ashkelon, near Tel Aviv, of the manslaughter of Tom Hurndall, 22, of north London.

Mr Hurndall was involved in protests against Israeli military actions in the Palestinian town of Rafah when he was shot. He died nine months later.

The court was told Taysir fired from an Israeli army watchtower.

Witnesses said Mr Hurndall was escorting children away from gunfire when he was hit in the head by a single shot.

Human shield

The Israeli army initially disputed this account, but under pressure from Mr Hurndall's family and the British government ordered a full investigation.

It later indicted Taysir, a member of Israel's Bedouin Arab minority, who is no longer in the army.

Mr Hurndall, a Manchester Metropolitan University journalism and photography student, had been operating as a human shield in the Gaza Strip with the International Solidarity Movement.

We're concerned there is a policy which seems to be prevalent in Gaza that [Israeli soldiers] feel able to shoot civilians without any accountability

Anthony Hurndall


Killed 'protecting others'
His father Anthony said on Monday outside the court: "I think the prosecution have obviously presented their case effectively and the court appears to have dealt with it very professionally and come to the conclusion which we believe was right on the evidence they had."

But he added that the family was "concerned about the culture in which this incident took place".

"We're concerned that there is a policy which seems to be prevalent in Gaza, amongst the Israeli soldiers and army, that they feel able to shoot civilians really without any accountability whatsoever."

Civil liberties group Human Rights Watch last week accused Israel of investigating less than 5% of hundreds of cases of Palestinians killed since 2000.

Israeli authorities say there is no policy of tolerating the shooting of civilians.

Taysir was also convicted of obstructing justice, providing false testimony and conduct unbecoming a soldier. He is due to be sentenced next week.

A film about the case, Shot on Camera: Tom Hurndall, will be shown on BBC Three on Monday 27 June at 2000 BST.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/mid...st/4625355.stm