From the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ recent report on the Gaza conflict, absolving a soldier who shot at a group of terrified women who were waving white flags as they left their homes in an eastern Gaza village at 7 in the morning on Jan. 13, 2009. The soldier shot one of the women in the temple, killing her:
[A] group of local women unexpectedly began approaching the IDF
position, and the soldiers suspected a tactic that could conceal a gunman or suicide bomber. One of the soldiers fired a warning shot to prevent the group from advancing further. A ricochet from this warning shot apparently struck Rouhiya al-Najjar, killing her…The MAG concluded that the soldier fired his weapon in light of the security need to keep the group from approaching the IDF post and his shot was not intentionally directed to hit or harm civilians. Thus, while acknowledging the lamentable results of the incident, the MAG closed the case without filing a
criminal indictment against the soldier.
From the New York Times, today, offering the Israeli explanation for why security forces shot Emily Henochowicz in the head with a tear gas canister on May 31, 2010, fracturing her skull and blinding her left eye.
Israeli Ministry of Defense reject[ed] any demand for compensation or payment of hospital costs. The reason, the ministry stated, was that the protest was violent and that the tear-gas canister was not fired directly but had ricocheted off a concrete barricade… While expressing sorrow over Ms. Henochowicz’s injury, the ministry added…
First ricochet spotted by Norman Finkelstein.
