Jerusalem24 – Yesterday, Sunday, a judicial panel consisting of three judges in the Israeli Supreme Court rejected a petition submitted by the Bakr family, who are the parents of four children who were killed by the Israeli Airforce in a missile attack 8 years ago in 2014.
Three human rights organizations filed a petition in 2020, namely, Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.
The petitioners demanded the court annul the decision of the Public Prosecutor, who rejected an appeal filed by the three institutions against closing the investigation into the case and to order the opening of a criminal investigation leading to the trial of those responsible for the killing.
The Public Prosecutor announced his decision, on September 9, 2019, and fully adopted the decision of the Military Prosecutor (MAG) to close the investigation.
The petitioners said that investigation materials show that the Israeli Air Force deliberately opened lethal fire on children in serious violation of the laws of war and international criminal law, directly targeting children without identifying them and without taking the necessary precautions.
The petitioners presented evidence showing significant flaws in the investigation conducted by the Israeli investigative authorities and numerous inconsistencies in the testimonies. However, the court ruled that it saw no reason to interfere with the prosecutor’s decision, and did not address any of the plaintiffs’ arguments regarding material flaws in the investigation.
The 11-page ruling was written by Chief Justice Esther Hayut and accepted unanimously by Justices Alex Stein and Yitzhak Amit. The court’s decision states that the Military Prosecutor’s decision to close the case came after “a thorough investigation of the incident,” taking into account the intelligence that the military allegedly held before and during the attack.
The verdict is based – among other things – on secret evidence, which was reviewed only by the Supreme Court outside the presence of the petitioners’ lawyers.
