TEL AVIV, April 14: The Israeli army on Monday said it planned no action against the driver of an armoured bulldozer who it said inadvertently caused the death of an American peace activist from Washington last month.
Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) that positions activists as “human shields” around the West Bank and Gaza, was crushed to death while protesting the demolition of a Palestinian house in Gaza.
The ISM says that Corrie was run over deliberately.
A statement released after a military investigation of the March incident said the driver and other Israeli forces in the area had acted “according to procedures and without misconduct”.
The army statement called Corrie’s death a “tragic accident”, pinning some of the blame on the peace activists themselves.
“It is important to keep in mind the danger posed by the illegal, irresponsible, and dangerous behaviour of the ISM group that led to the tragic and sad results,” it said.
Since Corrie’s death, two other ISM members have been shot by Israeli forces, including Tom Hurndall, a 21-year-old British citizen critically wounded by Israeli troops while helping children cross a Gazan street under fire last week.—Reuters
