Israeli solider jailed for British activist’s death

A former Israeli solider has been jailed for eight years for killing British peace activist Tom Hurndall.

Taysir Hayb, was found guilty of manslaughter of the 22-year-old student in June. He was also convicted of obstruction of justice, incitement to false testimony, false testimony and improper conduct.

The court was told that Mr Hayb, an ex-sergeant, fired at Mr Hurndall from an army watchtower, in the Palestinian town of Rafah in April 2003. According to witnesses, Mr Hurndall was attempting to lead a group of Palestinian children away from the gunfire.

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

A photography and journalism student at Manchester’s Metropolitan University, Mr Hurndall was in the Gaza Strip with the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement.

The Israeli army 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.

Mr Hayb was sentenced to 11-and-a-half years in prison, but will only serve eight years, with the rest of the sentence being suspended.

Amnesty International UK expressed concern about the rarity of such convictions. Director Kate Allen said: “While we are relieved that the person responsible for Tom Hurndall’s death has finally been brought to justice, it is striking that this was almost entirely due to tireless campaigning by his family and the international pressure that this created.

“The strong suspicion is that if Mr Hurndall’s family had not shown utter determination to uncover the truth of their son’s death, then no-one would ever have faced justice for what happened to Tom.

“Taysir Hayb’s conviction and sentence stand in stark contrast to the blanket impunity that shields virtually all of Israel’s security forces from effective investigation and punishment.”

Since the beginning of the current Palestinian uprising in September 2000, over 3,200 Palestinians including more than 600 children, and nearly 1,000 Israelis including over 650 civilians and 113 children, have been killed.

(KMcA/SP)