Israeli soldiers facing charges in looting case

Three are accused in the reported theft of $600 from a home during last summer’s Gaza Strip war.

JERUSALEM — Three Israeli soldiers were indicted on charges of committing offenses during last summer’s Gaza Strip war, the army reported Sunday.

According to a statement from the military advocate general, two soldiers were charged with looting about $600 from a Palestinian house in the Gaza neighborhood of Shajaiya, where their force had taken up positions.

The two infantry soldiers were indicted in a military court in the northern city of Haifa and charged with looting as well as obstructing justice. A third soldier was charged with aiding and abetting the theft. A military police investigation already had been opened during the war when the soldiers’ commander reported them.

Since the war, Israel’s army has been reviewing more than 120 cases of alleged violations of international law by its soldiers in Gaza.

So far, the military advocate general has ordered criminal investigations into 19 cases and closed several dozen others. The indictments announced Sunday were the first to be served in Gaza-related cases, several of which are grave and concern incidents in which Israeli military operations caused multiple civilian fatalities.

Several international reports have accused both Israel and the Palestinians of war crimes in the course of the conflict, which killed about 2,200 Palestinians and 70 Israelis during July and August.

In January the International Criminal Court announced the opening of a preliminary inquiry to determine whether there was a basis for proceeding with an investigation of war crimes.

The announcement came shortly after the Palestinian Authority moved to join the Hague-based ICC to pursue Israel for alleged war crimes. Israel was enraged by the Palestinian move, claiming it was a unilateral violation of the Oslo peace accords and a diplomatic attack to delegitimize Israel.

In response, Israel withheld months’ worth of taxes it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority in keeping with long-standing accords.

The funds were released only recently amid concerns the chronically cashstrapped Palestinian Authority could collapse and after both sides reached an agreement on addressing outstanding Palestinian debts to Israel.