Troops used boy as shield

An Israeli court martial has handed down suspended prison sentences to two former soldiers who forced a Palestinian boy to search for  booby-traps during the Gaza Strip war, the military said.

The ruling meant the ex-conscripts, who were last month convicted of reckless endangerment, are free but face a three-month jail term if they commit another crime. They were also stripped of their ranks as reservists.

While serving in Israel’s ground offensive against Hamas-led guerrillas on January 15, 2009, the two infantrymen helped storm an apartment in Tel Al Hawa.

Rounding up residents, they ordered nine-year-old Majed Rabah to check baggage for hidden explosives, said the Israeli verdict, which drew on witness accounts.

When Rabah failed to open one bag, the soldiers pulled him back and shot at it, endangering everyone present, the verdict said.

The boy was later returned to his family unharmed. The verdict made no mention of any booby-traps.

In Gaza, Rabah cried foul at Sunday’s sentence. “It’s unfair. They should have been jailed,” he said.

Rabah’s mother, Afaf, has called for the Israelis to be brought up before an inter-national war crimes court.

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