An Israeli source reported that the probe conducted by the Israeli army in the death of a Palestinian child by military fire on Monday revealed that soldiers did not follow the open-fire procedures.
The child, Monadil Abu Alia, 13, was killed by military fire last Monday near Ramallah city, in the West Bank.
He left his house at 20:00 along with two of his friends and headed to the main street. Army claimed that the three intended to place rocks in a main street and close it.
Thirty minutes after the child left his home, one of his friends informed the family that their son was seriously injured by the army, an hour later the family was officially informed of the child’s death.
An Israeli military source reported that the officer at Benjamin military unit Miki Einstein conducted an investigation on the incident on Wednesday and revealed that the child had stepped into a trap that the military had set apparently while targeting fighters, according to Einstein.
According to the investigation findings, soldiers claimed that they spotted two residents carrying "objects" and approaching the main street.
One of the two was some 40 meters away from the soldiers, while the other was further back.
Soldiers claimed that they ordered the child to stop but when he failed to respond they fired in the air, using a sniper-rifle, and fired more rounds at his legs using a night-vision sniper scope.
The army claimed that the death of the child was accidental, and that the incident is not considered an over-reaction by the soldiers.
Notably, most of the cases investigated by the military acquitted the soldiers, or units, involved in such incidents.
