Israeli soldiers put on probation for using child as shield

Two Israeli soldiers convicted of using a Palestinian child as a human shield during the Gaza war were sentenced to three months of probation.

The military court on Sunday also demoted them from staff sergeants to sergeants. The soldiers have completed their three years of mandatory military service, but both plan to serve in the reserves, according to reports.

Arab-Israeli lawmaker Ahmed Tibi objected to the sentence as being too lenient.

The soldiers, who have not been identified, were convicted in early October of inappropriate behavior and overstepping authority for forcing an 11-year-old Palestinian boy to open bags they believed to be armed with explosives during a search conducted in southern Gaza City in January 2009.

They were the first convictions on the use of human shields, which is prohibited by Israeli military protocol, according to Haaretz.

An investigation into the incident was opened in July, prior to the release of the Goldstone report, following the release of a special United Nations report on children and armed conflict, and after a complaint filed by the Israel office of Defense for Children International.

The soldiers “hurt the child and left a mark on him,” the judges said in their ruling. The presiding judge added, however, that the court could not “ignore the difficult conditions in which fighters sent by the State of Israel had to operate.”

Following the military court’s decision, Tibi of the United Arab List-Ta’al Party said the light sentence levied on the soldiers showed that Arab lives are worth less than Jews.

“The entire system conveys the message that the life of an Arab, especially the life of a Palestinian child, is worth less,” he said. “It’s no surprise that up to now, hundreds of Palestinian children have been killed by the Israeli army, and it has not led to any punishments or even condemnation.”