Israeli inquiry finds soldiers not at fault in deaths of Palestinians

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- An Israeli inquiry into recent military actions in which Palestinian civilians were killed has found that the soldiers acted appropriately in each case, the Israel Defense Forces said Friday.

Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer ordered IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon to open the investigation last Sunday after about a dozen Palestinians were killed in the various operations in the previous two weeks.

"The findings reveal that the standing open-fire orders, used in the three incidents, were appropriate," the IDF said in a statement.

There was no immediate reaction from Palestinian officials, but they had expressed little hope earlier in the week that the soldiers would be held accountable. "We will believe it when we see it," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat had said.

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The inquiry looked at three incidents:

The inquiry said its soldiers acted appropriately around Hebron and Netzarim.

"The soldiers acted following a suspicious behavior, which included persons being in an unauthorized area during the late night hours, crawling towards an Israeli community or infiltrating into an Israeli agricultural patch," the IDF statement said.

In the helicopter attack, the IDF said, one missile missed its target, resulting in "collateral damage."

"The reason for this was probably a technical malfunction, but is not clear yet," the IDF said.

The IDF also said the inquiry team presented Ben-Eliezer with operational conclusions that could minimize the chances of civilian casualties in the future.