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Israeli soldiers given minor reprimands over shooting of Palestinian civilians
Israeli officers held responsible for the deaths of four Palestinians in the West Bank received only minor reprimands after an internal investigation concluded that the deaths could have been avoided.
Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, Israel's military chief, admitted that the incidents last month "could have ended differently" and could have "avoided causing harm to civilians".
The two fatal shooting incidents, just 24 hours apart, marked the most serious escalation of tensions in the occupied West Bank in months, and threatened to destroy the fragile calm that has persisted there in recent years.
In one case, Israeli soldiers fired on Palestinian protesters, killing two. In a second incident, a soldier killed two Palestinians who he claimed had tried to attack him. Mr Ashkenazi reprimanded two senior officers–a colonel and a lieutenant colonel–and removed a squad commander from his post, a military statement said. The soldiers who fired the lethal rounds appeared to escape censure.