Israeli troop suspended over deaths From correspondents in Jerusalem 05may05
THE Israeli Army has suspended an officer commanding a unit that witnesses said killed two Palestinian teenagers during a stone-throwing demonstration in the occupied West Bank.
"The company commander was suspended in light of errors – both in the way he conducted himself and in the way in which he led his force," the army said today. It added the officer had been removed from active duty pending results of a full inquiry into the shooting incident in Beit Laqia village last night.
It was the latest deadly episode to threaten an already tenuous ceasefire.
Palestinian witnesses said two army jeeps entered the village after residents began demonstrating against plans to erect a section of Israel's West Bank barrier there.
Coming under a barrage of stones, troops opened fire, killing two youths aged 14 and 15, witnesses and medics said.
The army said a unit of six soldiers resorted to live fire after non-lethal means, including rubber bullets and tear gas, failed to disperse a crowd of 300 stone-throwing protesters.
Sporadic violence has strained a ceasefire declared at a February 8 summit between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Human rights groups regularly accuse Israeli troops of using excessive force against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and say few abuses are prosecuted.
The Israeli Army insists its troops do their utmost to avoid civilian casualties.
