Israeli Court convicts soldier of manslaughter of British activist

An Israeli military court on Monday convicted a former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier of manslaughter of a British activist during a military operation in the Gaza Strip two years ago, Jerusalem Post reported.

Taysir al-Heib, the defendant, shot Thomas Hurndall, a British student, in the head in the Rafah refugee camp near the Gaza-Egypt border in April 2003 when Hurndall was photographing the work of International Solidarity Movement activists.

The court said in its ruling that al-Heib had shot Hurndall with a sniper's rifle using a telescopic sight, and had given a " confused and even pathetic" version of events to the court.

In a confession, al-Heib said he wanted to teach Hurndall a lesson for entering a forbidden zone. He admitted to aiming a bullet 10 centimeters to the left of Hurndall's head to frighten him but had inadvertently shot him.

After lying in a comatose state for nine months, Hurndall died in a London hospital later.

The court also found Al-Heib guilty of obstruction of justice and giving false testimony. He will be sentenced in mid-August and face up to 20 years in prison, said the post.

Source: Xinhua