IDF chief clears soldiers who killed five Palestinians in raid

[Englander]

Last update - 22:01 14/09/2005

By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz decided Wednesday not to take disciplinary measures against soldiers involved in a West Bank raid last month, in which five Palestinians were killed.

After reading the findings of a military investigation into the incident, Halutz decided that further action was not necessary as "the operation's prime objective had been achieved: the arrest of the two suspects."

But Halutz did level some criticism over the operation in Tul Karm on August 24, saying that given the difficult location, deep inside Palestinian-controlled territory, and delicate timing - just as IDF forces were getting ready to pull out of the northern West Bank - it would have been better to have weighed the operation's necessity before it was carried out.

But a Haaretz investigation into the incident found that none of the five were armed at the time, and that the younger three had never belonged to a terrorist organization. According to the Haaretz probe, the two eldest of the five were shot at close range.

The five Palestinians were identified as Mahmoud Ahadiv, 16; Anas Abu Zina, 17; Mohammed Otman, 17; Majdi Atiya, 18 and A'adel Abu Halil, 26.

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