10/04/2006

Gaza Briton was 'unlawfully killed'

A British peace activist shot dead in the Gaza Strip by an Israeli soldier was unlawfully killed, an inquest has ruled.

Tom Hurndall, 22, from north London was shot in the Palestinian town of Rafah in April 2003. Witnesses had said that Mr Hurndall was shot as he attempted to move Palestinian children away from gunfire during a demonstration in the town.

Mr Hurndall, who was shot in the head, was in a coma for nine months before he died in a London hospital.

The Israeli army had initially denied that Mr Hurndall had been shot by a solider but eventually launched an official inquiry, following pressure from Mr Hurndall's family and the British government.

A former Israeli soldier, Taysir Hayb, was jailed for eight years for the manslaughter of Mr Hurndall last August.

The inquest comes a week after another inquiry found that a British cameraman had been unlawfully killed by an Israeli solider in the same town.

James Miller, 34, from Devon, was shot and fatally wounded in the neck by an Israeli soldier while he was making a film about Palestinian children in Rafah, in May 2003.

(KMcA)


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