Israeli Court Rejects Gaza War Crime Case
An Israeli court has rejected a lawsuit filed by a Gazan who lost family members and his home to an Israeli airstrike in 2009, Mohammed Suliman reports.
Last month, the Israeli Central Court of Beer Sheba rejected a lawsuit filed by the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, a Palestinian NGO, on behalf of Fayez Salha, a resident of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, against the shelling of his house during Israel’s 2008-09 Cast Lead operation.
According to Al Mezan, on Jan. 9, 2009, during Israel’s deadly operation in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli drone shelled the house of Fayez Salha in what is widely known as a ‘roof-knocking’ attack. This was shortly followed by another heavy airstrike by Israeli war jets which directly hit the two-story house and left it totally damaged.
Six family members — Salha’s wife, his four children, and sister-in-law — were killed as a result of the attack, out of the eight who were inside the house at the time of the airstrike.
In November 2009, Al Mezan filed a complaint with the Military Advocate General to open a criminal investigation into the incident. The lawsuit was soon terminated with no charges brought against the offenders on the grounds that the attack took place in the context of a military operation. In addition to dismissing the case, the court ordered the Salha family pay 20,000 NIS (about $5,000).
