[Shadow_Group] Fw: Israeli soldiers admit killing Palestinian boy for fun

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Palestine Monitor.

Israeli soldiers admit killing Palestinian boy for fun 
Aljazeera
December 8, 2004

Israeli soldiers serving at the Gaza Strip admitted that they had killed
a 15-year-old Palestinian boy in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, "for
sport."

The incident took place in March when a group of Israeli soldiers were on
a hike outside the town of Khan Younis, the Yedeot Ahranot reported on
Tuesday.

The Israeli newspaper said that a group of Giv'ati brigade soldiers shot
dead Khalid Suleiman Mahdi, 15, who was assisting his father in their
farm.

Suleiman Mahdi, Khalid's father, told the paper that the killing was
"just for the sake of it."

"Seven bullets pierced my son's head, so you can't talk here about a
mistake or random gunfire. This was an act of direct and clear sharp
shooting".

"The area was is wide open and contains nothing special. The only thing
unusual was the shooting at us, which killed my son, " Suleiman said.

Khalid, his two brothers and their father, were working in the family's
farm when the Israeli soldiers opened fire at them.

The Yedeot Ahranot interviewed the Israeli soldiers involved in the
crime. 

"There were no operational purposes" for the shooting, admitted the
soldiers, for neither the boy or his family posed any threat whatsoever.

An Israeli army spokesman said the army investigated March incident, but
admitted that no arrests were made.

The spokesman refused to reveal why the Israeli soldiers were not
arrested, let alone prosecuted.

However, Suleiman Mahdi, a farm worker, said he didn't consider suing his
son's murderers.

"I only hope the Israeli army takes care such a thing doesn't occur once
again. There are lots of children here who work with their parents and I
hope Khalid will be the last casualty." 

Palestinians and human rights groups have often accused the Israeli
military of firing randomly at Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza
Strip. 

In October, Israeli soldiers shot a Palestinian a 13-year- old
schoolgirl, Iman al-Hams, 20 times while she was walking past an Israeli
military checkpoint on her way to school in Rafah, a refugee camp on
Gaza's border with Egypt.

An Israeli journalist had previously denounced the deliberate killing of
hundreds of Palestinian children by Israeli forces, saying that these
killings make the Israeli military a terrorist army.

Gideon Levy often writes about the crimes and violations of the Israeli
army in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. 

He also said that the explanations and justifications made by the Israeli
military and Foreign Ministry were far from convincing.

"The plain fact, which must be stated clearly, is that the blood of
hundreds of Palestinian children is on our hands. No explanation by the
army spokesman's office or by the military correspondents about the
dangers posed to soldiers by the children and no dubious excuse by the
public relations people in the foreign ministry about how Palestinian are
making use of children will change that fact.

"An army that kills so many children is an army with no restraints, an
army that has lost its moral code."

Levy also criticized the Israeli claims that Palestinian children are
often killed during clashes with Palestinian resistance fighters. He said
that most of the children were killed either inside or in front of their
own homes.

"Mahammad al Araj was eating a sandwich in front of his house when a
soldier shot him to death at fairly close range.He was six at the time of
his death..Kristin Sa'ad was in her parents' care, on the way home from a
family visit, when soldiers sprayed the care with bullets.She was 12 at
the time of her death."


Results of B'Tselem Investigation: Serious Suspicion that IDF Executed an
Unarmed and Injured Palestinian
Btselem
December 6, 2004

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