Israelisk officer: "Jag skulle ha dödat henne även om hon var tre år gammal"

För en tid sedan sköts 13-åriga Iman al-Hams till döds av en Israelisk officer. Familjen säger att hon bara skulle gå till skolan. Den Israeliska armén säger i sina officiella uttalanden att hon var på väg mot en armépostering och de trodde att hon bar på en bomb. De säger också att de inte visste att hon var ett barn.

Nu har inspelningar av radiokommunikationen vid händelsen släppts. De visar med en skrämmande tydlighet att soldaterna var medvetna om att det var ett barn de såg. De visar också att Iman var på väg bort från arméprosteringen när hon sköts. Ur The Guardian idag:

The tape recording is of a three-way conversation between the army watchtower, the army post's operations room and the captain, who was a company commander.

The soldier in the watchtower radioed his colleagues after he saw Iman: "It's a little girl. She's running defensively eastward."

Operations room: "Are we talking about a girl under the age of 10?"

Watchtower: "A girl of about 10, she's behind the embankment, scared to death."

A few minutes later, Iman is shot in the leg from one of the army posts.

The watchtower: "I think that one of the positions took her out."

The company commander then moves in as Iman lies wounded and helpless.

Captain R: "I and another soldier ... are going in a little nearer, forward, to confirm the kill ... Receive a situation report. We fired and killed her ... I also confirmed the kill. Over."

Witnesses described how the captain shot Iman twice in the head, walked away, turned back and fired a stream of bullets into her body. Doctors at Rafah's hospital said she had been shot at least 17 times.

Officeren klargör lite senare varför han sköt flickan:

On the tape, the company commander then "clarifies" why he killed Iman: "This is commander. Anything that's mobile, that moves in the zone, even if it's a three-year-old, needs to be killed. Over."

Armeofficeren åtalas nu. Dock inte för mord eller dråp, utan för "uppträdande ovärdigt ett befäl".