Israeli commander suspended in death of Palestinian girl
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- After launching a criminal investigation into the shooting death of a 13-year-old Palestinian girl, the Israel Defense Forces have suspended an army commander for his involvement in the incident.
An IDF representative announced the suspension Wednesday. The suspended commander was not named.
According to the girl's mother, Iman al-Hams was killed as she ran toward Israeli soldiers October 5 in Rafah, in Gaza.
"She was on her way to school. There was a lot of shooting that morning and when she heard it, she became hysterical. Instead of running back home she ran towards the soldiers," said Hwaydeh Salman al-Hams.
The Israeli military initially said soldiers believed the girl was carrying a bomb in her school bag and said rules of engagement had been followed.
The matter became a controversy in Israel when it was determined the girl was hit by as many as 20 bullets and two Israeli soldiers charged that their commander repeatedly shot her.
The soldiers contacted Israel's largest newspaper, Yediot Ahrohnot.
"I was sure she was 12 or maybe younger. I reported it over the two-way radio," one soldier told the newspaper. He said shots were fired and the girl fell to the ground. "Then our commander shot her twice. He made sure she was dead and then, I don't know why, but he decided to turn back towards her body and unloaded a round of bullets into it ... this was the most revolting thing I have ever seen as a soldier."
The commander has accused the soldiers of launching a personal vendetta against him.
But Brig. Gen. Shmuel Zakai ordered the criminal investigation into the incident.
In a statement, the military said, "The Israel Defense Forces recognize the gravity of the incident and the allegations raised require a full investigation."
Israeli Knesset member Yossi Sarid called for the IDF to turn over the investigation to an external body, the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz reported.
Human rights groups say at least 30 Palestinian children have been killed since Israel launched an incursion into Gaza more than two weeks ago.
These latest incidents are not in northern Gaza where Israeli troops are attempting to establish a 9 km (5.5 mile) buffer zone to shield Israeli cities from Palestinian Qassam rockets.
That incursion was launched after a Qassam rocket killed two Israeli children in the southern Israeli city of Sderot.
Girl, 10, dies of gunshot injuries
A 10-year-old girl died Wednesday following surgery a day earlier, after Palestinian security and hospital sources said she was hit by an Israeli bullet as she attended school in southern Gaza.
They said Ghadir Mathmar was hit in the chest and stomach as she sat in class at her U.N.-run school in the south Gaza refugee camp of Khan Yunis.
The Israeli military said after four mortar shells were fired at its troops in the area, Israeli soldiers fired back toward the source of the shells. They said it is possible the girl was hit by Israeli fire and the military is investigating.
Missile fired into refugee camp
An Israeli attack helicopter Wednesday fired a missile and hit a car in the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza, but the occupants managed to escape, Palestinian security sources said.
The target, the sources said, was believed to be Issam Abu Da'ah, the head of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine in northern Gaza, and his assistant.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
At Rafah, in southern Gaza, a 16-year-old Palestinian was killed and a 14-year-old wounded by Israeli gunfire, Palestinian sources said. The Israeli military said it was checking the report.
Israeli military sources said a Palestinian man was shot by IDF troops in Rafah near the Egyptian border. The troops said they spotted a man trying to plant a device in an open strip of land where Palestinians are not allowed to pass through.
And on the West Bank, Israeli security sources said Imad Qawasme, the head of Hamas in Hebron, was arrested Wednesday morning by the Israeli army.
He turned himself in after IDF troops surrounded the house he was staying in. One of his houses was demolished.
Qawasme, 31, was "responsible for the dispatching and directing numerous suicide and shooting attacks in the areas of Jerusalem, Hebron and Beer Sheva," the Israeli security sources said. One of the attacks was the double suicide bombing in Beer Sheva on August 31 that killed 16 Israelis.
CNN's Guy Raz and Shira Medding contributed to this report.
