Military police arrest soldier who shot Briton in Rafah
AMOS HAREL
Ha'aretz, 31 December 2003
Military police arrested several days ago and have interrogated the Israel Defense Force soldier suspected of shooting and seriously wounded British civilian Tom Hurndall in Rafah last April.
Hurndall is now a vegetable and his family has begun proceedings allowing him to eventually be disconnected from respiratory and other life-support systems.
Hurndall, 22, a student from Manchester and a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), was wounded by IDF gunfire directed at Palestinians in the Yabne neighborhood of the Rafah refugee camp an April 11, 2003. Other ISM activists on the scene at the time of the incident charged that IDF snipers starting shooting at Palestinians - including children - in the street without any prior provocation.
The arrested soldier initially claimed during his interrogation that he returned fire after an armed Palestinian shot at him. In the later stages of the military police investigation, the soldier admitted shooting at the unarmed British civilian with the intention of intimidating him.
The IDF has updated the British Embassy in Israel on developments in the case. The Southern Command military court extended the soldier's remanded on Wednesday by seven days.
The investigation into the circumstances of the incident commenced six months after the shooting at the directive of Judge Advocate General Major General Menachem Finkelstein.
The IDF has previously agreed to carry out an internal investigation with the soldier's unit - the Bedouin Patrol Battalion.
The military police investigation was decided upon following a series of contacts with lawyer Avigdor Feldman, acting on behalf of the Hurndall family.
The Hurndalls said they have received the findings of the IDF inquiry but "what was presented by Israeli military authorities up till now indicate a childish and unsubstantial investigation."