An Israeli soldier who shot and killed a 64-year old woman and her 35-year old daughter who were waving a white flag in Gaza in 2009 has received a sentence of just 45 days in detention. A judge approved the plea agreement on Sunday in an Israeli military court in Jaffa.The incident was one of several highlighted in the United Nations-commissioned report (dubbed the Goldstone Report) investigating war crimes during the Israeli invasion of Gaza in 2009, in which Palestinians waving white flags were shot at by Israeli troops.
In this case, the unnamed Staff Sergeant was allegedly not ordered by his superiors to shoot, but took action unilaterally to shoot the two women.
Initially, he was charged with manslaughter, but the charges were later reduced to illegal use of a weapon, and the soldier worked out a plea bargain to reduce his jailtime down to 45 days.
The soldier in question was part of the Givati Brigade, a group of soldiers that have been cited on multiple occasions for their brutal treatment of Palestinian civilians.
Over 1,400 Palestinians, nearly 400 of them children, were killed during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip that lasted from December 27th, 2008 – January 19th, 2009. 14 Israelis were also killed, 5 of whom were soldiers killed by ‘friendly fire’.
