Case closed: 'IDF did not commit war crimes in Gaza'
Major Dorit Tuval, the deputy Military Advocate for Operational Matters, informed B'Tselem on Tuesday that the Military Police investigation into an incident in which 21 members of the al-Samouni family were killed during an IDF strike on Gaza's Zeitoun neighborhood during Operation Cast Lead in 2009 has been closed.
In her letter to the human rights group, Tuval wrote that the military prosecution has decided not to take any legal action against those responsible for the incident after "the investigation completely disproved any claim about deliberate harm to civilians, as well as haste and recklessness about possible harm to civilians, or criminal negligence."
"The operational circumstances of Operation Cast Lead, which was conducted mainly in highly-populated urban areas, had direct implications on the manner in which operational decisions were reached during the incident in question," she wrote.
Attorney Yael Stein, B'Tselem's head of research, said in response: "It is unacceptable that no one is found responsible for an action of the army that led to the killing of 21 uninvolved civilians, inside the building they were in under soldiers' orders, even if not deliberately. The way the army has exempted itself of responsibility in this case, even if only to accept the severity of the event and clarify its circumstances, even if accidental, is outrageous.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4223449,00.html