British Legislator, Gerald Kaufman said Tuesday, sanctions must be imposed against Israel if it does not hand over officers and troops suspected of being responsible for the killing of two British civilians in Palestine.
Kaufman, a Labour Party lawmaker, called for trials, in
Tom Hurndall, 22, died nine months after being shot in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in broad daylight by an Israeli soldier who later said his commanders had issued orders allowing him to shoot even unarmed civilians.
Sergeant Taysir Hayb was convicted of manslaughter by an Israeli court and jailed for eight years for shooting Hurndall as he tried to rescue children who froze in fear after the soldier opened fire.
Hurndall was wearing a florescent jacket when he was killed. He was in Rafah as a peace activist with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) who joins the Palestinians in their nonviolent activities and protests.
A coroners’ jury in
The jury criticized for its "lack of cooperation" with the inquest, with the Israeli government declining to take part and even hampering a British police investigation. In court Anthony Hurndall accused
Calls for sanctions came after
In court Dr. Andrew Reid, the coroner who heard both cases said he would write to the attorney general about whether his powers under the Geneva Conventions Act, namely seeking the prosecution of those involved in issuing orders about when soldiers can shoot, could "prevent similar fatalities".
Rachel Corrie, an American activist also with the ISM, was killed on March 16, 2003 in the same area Hurndall was shot. Corrie died as an Israeli military bulldozer ran her over burying her alive, as she tried to protect a civilian house from being demolished by the Israeli army.
Corrie did not have the same inquest Hurndall has, simply because the U.S government adopted the Israeli military version of the story which state that Corries died as a concrete wall fell on her, neglecting the accounts of the eyewitnesses who saw the bulldozer running her over.
