Israeli officer charged

last updated 8 January 2015

Gaza

An Israeli captain who emptied his gun into a Palestinian schoolgirl his troops had already killed has been charged with conduct unbecoming an officer. The girl, Iman Hams, was on her way to school in the Gaza Strip, near the Egyptian border, in an off-limits area, when soldiers shot her. The officer, whom officials will not name, walked up to the prone 13-year-old, fired twice into her head, then riddled her body with machine gun fire. “This is Commander,” the captain said into the radio. “Whoever dares to move in the area, even if it’s a 3-year-old, you have to kill him.” After the radio communications were played on national television, some soldiers spoke out against the officer’s conduct, while other critics are questioning why the girl was shot in the first place. “This is the most sickening thing I have ever seen during my army service,” said one soldier.