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Israel disciplines officers over Gaza shelling
[Al Arabiya Latest] The Israeli military has disciplined two senior officers for the firing of white phosphorous shells toward a U.N. compound during the Gaza war, Israeli media said on Monday.In the official response to a damning U.N. report on the 22-day war handed to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday, Israel said a brigadier general and a colonel had been disciplined for the actions following an internal army inquiry, several local newspapers said. The Israeli army confirmed the reports, but declined to provide further comment. Local media named the two men, the highest-ranking officers that Israel has sanctioned over the war that killed 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis, as Brigadier General Eyal Eisenberg and Brigade Commander Colonel Ilan Malka. Eisenberg, still heads Israel's Gaza division while Malka now runs military operations in the West Bank under the same rank. "The special command investigation revealed that, during the course of a military operation in Tel El Hawa, IDF forces fired several artillery shells in violation of the rules of engagement prohibiting use of such artillery near populated areas," the Ynet news website quoted Israel's response as saying. The two men were found guilty of "exceeding their authority in a manner that jeopardized the lives of others," the Haaretz daily quoted the response. Posted by: Fred 2010-02-02 |
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