On 24 June 2008, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) filed a lawsuit at the National Court of Spain, the highest Spanish judicial council, against seven former senior Israeli military officials. All were involved in the planning and execution of the “targeted assassination” of Salah Shehada, commander of the armed wing of Hamas, in Gaza city in July 2002. The Occupation dropped a 500 kg bomb on his house killing him and seventeen others, including his wife, his daughter, his guard, eight children (including a 2-month infant), two elderly men, and two women. In addition, seventy-seven other people were injured, eleven houses were completely destroyed and thirty-two houses damaged.
This lawsuit the Spanish National Court is now examining has been made possible by the cooperation of PCHR, a series of experienced and well known human rights lawyers and Palestinian and Spanish solidarity organizations (including the Arab Cause Solidarity Committee and the Al-Quds Association for Solidarity with People in Arab Countries).
As an immediate response, the Occupation has ordered all the military officers implicated in the case not to enter Spain to avoid arrest and prosecution.
This case is a step towards holding those responsible for war crimes accountable. It is as well yet another indication of the disastrous political and criminal implications of engaging in the arms trade with Israel.
Disclaimer: The contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). The Centre for Research on Globalization will not be responsible for any inaccurate or incorrect statement in this article. The Centre of Research on Globalization grants permission to cross-post Global Research articles on community internet sites as long the source and copyright are acknowledged together with a hyperlink to the original Global Research article. For publication of Global Research articles in print or other forms including commercial internet sites, contact: [email protected]
www.globalresearch.ca contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of "fair use" in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than "fair use" you must request permission from the
copyright owner.
