Father accuses Israel of 13 year-old's "targeted killing"

Independent: Israeli army to investigate West Bank shooting of Palestinian boy

The Israeli army has launched an investigation into the fatal shooting of a 13-year-old boy during a "routine operation" in Nablus in the early hours of yesterday.

The father of Udawi Tantawi, from the Askar refugee camp, said he planned to sue the army for what he called the "targeted killing" of his son, after the military authorities said an initial investigation indicated that soldiers had opened fire in breach of the rules of engagement.

The affair echoes accounts of other civilian deaths published by The Independent on Sunday last week.

The army said that the boy had been killed when soldiers in the West Bank town encountered Palestinians throwing stones and bottles at them. Thinking an armed Palestinian was approaching them, it said, they opened fire. But Mr Tantawi said a medical examination had shown several bullets were fired at his son's chest.

He told the Yedhiot Ahronot website: "You need to look at the body to understand it was a targeted shooting with the intention to kill.

"One bullet pierced his heart and exited his back. No religion in the world, no morality or law can explain what happened." He said children who had been with the boy at a local park had told him they were playing at the time of the shooting. Read more