The army has ordered a court martial for a soldier on charges of manslaughter through negligence in the shooting death of a Nablus girl during the May rioting in that West Bank city. In accordance with what was described as a routine army procedure of investigating every case of death and injury in such circumstances, an investigation was promised to the family of 16-year-old Lena Nabulsi member of a family of considerable influence in Nablus.
The gunshot death of the girl was given widespread publicity outside Israel and caused an uproar in Israel. The girl was hit by a bullet only two weeks after she returned from eye surgery in London.
According to one eyewitness account of the incident, the girl happened to be a member of a group of Nablus youngsters who staged a riotous demonstration in Nablus. Israeli soldiers called on the youngsters to desist and the girl panicked and ran up the stairs of a nearby house. According to that account, she was hit accidentally by the soldier chasing her.
Another eyewitness account was that the girl was standing on a roof looking on as soldiers chased a group of demonstrating Arab youngsters and was hit by a bullet fired by a soldier who was chasing demonstrators into the building where the girl was standing.
The army said an investigating committee had found there was reason for a court martial on negligence charges. Officials said there was no suspicion that the soldier deliberately fired at the victim.
Authorities also disclosed that an Israeli army officer is facing trial in connection with the death of an Arab Communist leader from a village near Nablus. He was reportedly hit during similar demonstrations last May in that village. He had been detained during the demonstrations and was reported dead on arrival at a police station.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
