Coverup alleged in fatal shooting of teen girl by Israel army - shot 20 times

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On the morning of Oct. 5, Iman Hams, a slight girl of 13 wearing a school uniform and toting a backpack crammed with books, wandered past an Israeli military outpost on the Gaza Strip's southern border with Egypt. The Israeli captain on duty alerted his troops to reports of a suspicious figure about 100 yards from the outpost. Soldiers fired into the air, according to radio transmissions, military court documents and witnesses. "It's a little girl,'' a soldier watching from a nearby Israeli observation post cautioned over the military radio. ``She's running defensively eastward. . . . A girl of about 10, she's behind the embankment, scared to death.'' Four minutes later, Israeli troops opened fire on the girl with machine guns and rifles, the radio transmissions indicated. The captain walked to the spot where the girl ``was lying down'' and fired two bullets from his M-16 assault rifle into her head, according to an indictment against the officer. He started to walk away, but pivoted, set his rifle on automatic and emptied his magazine into the girl's prone body, the indictment alleged. "This is commander,'' the captain said into the radio when he was finished. ``Whoever dares to move in the area, even if it's a 3-year-old -- you have to kill him. Over.'' The girl's body was peppered with at least 20 bullets, including seven in her head, said Ali Mousa, a physician who is director of the Rafah hospital where her corpse was examined. An investigation was undertaken, and the military's top commanders -- including the chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon -- said repeatedly that the captain had acted properly under the circumstances. But Israeli newspapers published graphic accounts by soldiers who said they witnessed the incident, and Israel's Channel 2 television aired recordings of the radio transmissions. [more]
  • Pictured above: Iman Hams's relatives mourn at the family house during her funeral last month in the Rafah refugee camp. She had been shot at least 20 times.  [more]