Citing ‘hearsay,’ Israel ends Gaza deaths probe

JERUSALEM - Citing insufficient evidence and hearsay, the Israeli military on Monday closed an investigation into two cases of alleged killings of Gaza civilians that had caused an uproar in Israel and around the world.

Israeli soldiers had described the alleged incidents in a closed-door meeting at a military prep school, and their accounts, along with their reports of vandalism in Palestinian homes, were published by Israeli media earlier this month. One case involved the alleged killing of an elderly woman by a rooftop sniper, and the second described a sniper fatally shooting a mother and two children who had entered a no-go zone.

The chief army prosecutor, Brig. Gen. Avichai Mendelblit, announced the criminal investigation after the accounts became public. But on Monday he said he would not file charges, saying crucial components of the soldiers’ descriptions were based on hearsay.

Mendelblit said the soldier who described the killing of the woman and two children clarified in the investigation that he did not witness it.

He said the soldiers had been careless in their remarks and harmed Israel’s image. “It seems that it will be difficult to evaluate the damage done to the image and morals of the Israel Defense Forces and its soldiers ... in Israel and the world,” Mendelblit said in a statement.

He said other investigations into army conduct during Israel’s three-week offensive in Gaza would continue but did not elaborate. Officials in the army spokesman’s office declined further comment.