Israel to investigate Palestinian teen's death

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday it intends to investigate the death of a Palestinian teen-ager during Israel's military offensive in the West Bank.

The announcement comes after B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, released a report blaming Israel for the death. The IDF chief military advocate reviewed the case and made the decision to investigate further.

In a statement on its Web site, the IDF said it has undertaken about 20 investigations into the conduct of Israeli soldiers during the West Bank incursion. The allegations include acts of violence against Palestinian civilians, looting, theft of property and intentional damage to property and vehicles, the statement said.

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In addition, five soldiers convicted by a military court of looting have been sentenced to up to five months in prison and have been demoted to private, the statement said.

Israel launched Operation Defensive Shield in late March to root out what it called a "terrorist infrastructure" in the West Bank after a wave of Palestinian suicide bombings. The offensive lasted five weeks.

Palestinians accused Israeli troops of looting and abusing the rights of citizens. They also alleged that Israeli forces massacred Palestinian civilians in the Jenin refugee camp.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society later said the bodies of 53 Palestinians were recovered. Human Rights Watch said that about half of those were thought to be civilians, but that its investigation turned up no evidence of a massacre. Israel said 23 of its soldiers were killed during the Jenin operation.

Rights group places blame for death 'squarely on Israel'

The B'Tselem study, called Death in Custody, looks into the death of 17-year-old Murad Awaisa in Ramallah during Operation Defensive Shield.

The group said that IDF soldiers detained Awaisa and some neighbors in an apartment on March 31, and the next morning, "his body was taken from the building with two bullets in it; one near his heart and one in the knee."

B'Tselem said the investigation indicates that Awaisa had been moved from the room where he had been imprisoned with other men.

"Some 20 minutes later, the other detainees hear intense gunfire emanating from outside and inside the building," the B'Tselem report said. "The soldiers later informed them Awaisa had died."

B'Tselem gathered accounts that allege soldiers threatened and swore at the men and "beat them severely." Also, the men received no "water and food" for 12 hours until they were released.

"The detainees did not see the shooting of Awaisa. Therefore, it is impossible to assert with certainty who shot him and what were the exact circumstances of his death," the report said. "However, the fact that he was killed while in IDF custody and under IDF supervision is sufficient grounds to place the responsibility for his death squarely on Israel.

"The violence inflicted by IDF soldiers against Awaisa and other detainees during their detention, forcibly removing him from the room prior to his death and his hands being tied strengthen the IDF's obligation to conduct an investigation into the circumstances of his death."