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By Muriel Mirak-Weissbach
By Haaertz Service and
The Associated Press, 29-01-2009
A Spanish judge has opened a probe of
seven current or former Israeli officials over a 2002 bombing in
Gaza that killed a Hamas militant and 14 other people, including
nine children.
Judge Fernando Andreu said the attack by Israel, which targeted
militant Salah Shehadeh in a densely populated civilian area, might
constitute a crime against humanity.
The judge is acting under a doctrine that allows prosecution in
Spain of such an offense or crimes like terrorism or genocide even
if they are alleged to have been committed in another country.
Andreu announced the probe in a writ issued Thursday. The people
named in the suit include Dan Halutz, former Israel Defense Forces
Chief of Staff and Israel Air Force commander at the time, as well
as Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, then defense minister and now the minister
of infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Israel is preparing for a wave of lawsuits by
pro-Palestinian organizations overseas against Israelis involved in
the latest Gaza fighting, claiming they were responsible for war
crimes due to the harsh results stemming from the IDF's actions
against Palestinian civilians and their property.
Senior Israeli ministers have expressed serious fears during
following the war about the possibility that Israel will be pressed
to agree to an international investigation of the losses among
non-combatants during Operation Cast Lead; or alternately, that
Israelis will be faced with personal suits, such as happened to
Israeli officers who were accused of war crimes in Britain for their
actions during the second intifada.
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