45 days community service for Israel soldier who killed Palestinian

An Israeli occupation soldier had been sentenced to 45 days of community service for killing a Palestinian fisherman off the Gaza coast in 2018, Israel Hayom reported on Monday. In what rights groups have said is proof that Israel “protect[s] perpetrators, not their victims”.

The sentence came following an army investigation that found the soldier had opened fire at the Palestinian without authorisation.

According to Israel Hayom, the Israeli soldier was not named. However, the Palestinian man who was killed in the incident was named as 23-year-old Nawwaf Al-Attar.

The shooting took place on 14 November 2018, a few hours after a ceasefire took effect following a brief Israeli offensive on Gaza.

READ: Gaza fishermen shot by Israel navy, second day in a row

Associated Press reported Israeli occupation claims that it makes every effort to avoid civilian casualties and accuses Palestinian terrorists of using civilians as human shields.

Meanwhile, AP reported rights groups accusing Israel of using excessive force and of failing to adequately investigate the killing of Palestinian civilians.

“Enforcing a military occupation on millions of people for decades requires exorbitant violence and impunity for the soldiers who sustain it,” the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem said in a statement.

“Forty-five days of community service for killing a man is but the latest example of how the military law enforcement system is designed to protect perpetrators, not their victims,” the Israeli rights group added.