Israelis face West Bank charges

Israelis face West Bank charges

By Barbara Plett BBC Middle East correspondent

Israeli soldiers are rarely prosecuted

The Israeli army has charged an officer and a soldier in incidents where Palestinian civilians were killed.

Indictments on such charges are rare despite quite a number of Palestinian civilian deaths in the past two-and-a-half years of conflict.

The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem called the move too little, too late.

The Israeli army charged the officer with causing death through negligence in a case in Jenin last October when a boy was shot.

The soldier faces the same charge for an incident last December, plus using a weapon unlawfully.

In that case a 95-year-old woman was killed in a taxi.

There have been fewer than 10 indictments on such charges since the beginning of the Palestinian uprising - despite the death of 105 women and 180 children under the age of 15 during that time, according to B'Tselem.

No sentences

The human rights group pointed out that none of the defendants had actually been sentenced yet.

It called army investigations insufficient and said that gave troops in the field a sense of immunity.

Since the army reoccupied major Palestinian towns, young Israeli soldiers have come into daily contact with civilians in often tense situations.

A month ago, two Israelis in the West Bank were killed by mistake.

An army spokesman said the military was investigating some 300 cases ranging from vandalism to violence by Israeli soldiers against Palestinian civilians.