Israeli soldier guilty of killing wounded Palestinian

An Israeli soldier who killed a wounded Palestinian in the West Bank city of Hebron last March was found guilty of manslaughter Jan. 4. The three-judge military panel in Tel Aviv ruled against Sgt Elor Azaria. Chief judge Col Maya Heller gave a lengthy verdict reading in which the court ruled that accounts of the incident that he had given were "unreliable and problematic." The panel rejected the defense's arguments. "We found there was no room to accept his arguments," the Chief judge said. "His motive for shooting was that he felt the terrorist deserved to die." Israeli politicians have called for Azaria to be pardoned and this case has caused division among the Israeli population.

From Jurist, Jan. 4. Used with permission.

  1. Family detained in ‘car intifada’ attack

    Israel’s magistrate court in Jerusalem has extended the remand of three family members of Fadi al-Qunbar—who was killed on Jan. 7 after droving a truck into a group of uniformed Israeli soldiers, killing four and injuring at least 13 others—from the Jabal al-Mukabbir neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem. (Ma'an)

  2. Israel court sentences soldier for executing Palestinian

    A Tel Aviv military court on Feb. 21 issued an 18-month prison sentence to an Israeli soldier convicted of executing a Palestinian last year. Contrary to military guidelines, Sgt. Elor Azaria, an army medic, shot the unarmed and wounded Palestinian after the man had stabbed a soldier in the city of Hebron. In January a three-judge panel convicted Azaria of manslaughter upon finding that his intentions were not justifiable. While prosecutors demanded a prison sentence of three to five years, the court settled on the lower sentence along with a year's probation and rank demotion. The Israeli public has largely protested that Azaria deserved to be pardoned, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently echoed such statements. Palestinians, in stark contrast, have protested the sentence as too light. Azaria is scheduled to begin the controversial sentence early next month. (Jurist)