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Salah Shehadeh was killed in an IDF strike on Gaza in July 2002.
(Nir Kafri)
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Last update - 18:17 30/06/2009
Spain court drops 'war crimes' probe of 2002 IDF strike in Gaza
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and News Agencies
Tags: war crimes, Israel News, Gaza 

Spain's National Court on Tuesday decided to shelve an investigation launched by one of its judges into a July 2002 air strike by the Israel Defense Forces on a Hamas target in the Gaza Strip, judicial sources said.

Leading Hamas militant Saleh Shehadeh was killed when the Israel Air Force dropped a one-ton bomb on his apartment building in Gaza. The explosion destroyed the building and killed 14 other people, most of them women and children. Spanish Judge Fernando Andreu had argued that it could constitute a crime against humanity.

The suspects named by Andreu included former defense minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer and six current or former IDF officers or security officials.
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The case had created some diplomatic tension between Spain and Israel.

The court decision followed a preliminary approval by parliament of legislation limiting the right of Spanish judges to investigate alleged human rights violations abroad.

Later Tuesday, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman welcomed the decision.

"We view positively every development that deals successfully with such an attempt, and hope that this will be the end of the matter," he said.

The foreign minister added that Israel has argued from the beginning that the probe was a political bid to exploit Spain's judicial establishment.

Lieberman's predecessor, Tzipi Livni, also praised the move.

"The message that Spain sent out today was the right message," said Livni, chairwoman of the Kadima party. "The decision of the Spanish judicial establishment to prevent its exploitation constitutes an example of a joint interest between Spain and Israel."

Last month, Spanish lawmakers almost unanimously passed a resolution which could end the right of Spanish judges to investigate serious crimes like genocide anywhere in the world in cases where courts in the affected country do not act.

Spain's Socialist government said earlier this year it would change the law after protests from Israel over the High Court's decision in January to launch a war crimes probe into the seven Israeli officials.

If translated into a law, the resolution would restrict Spain, which had been praised by international campaigners, to only investigating cases in which the accused is in Spain or Spaniards are victims.



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      1.   This is not only about Israel 14:40  |  Christopher 30/06/09
      2.   Spain`s courts 14:41  |  Jay 30/06/09
      3.   #2 Jay, Its not a question of Some Sanity in Spain 14:59  |  Israeli Atheist 30/06/09
      4.   What a pity - missed opportunity 15:21  |  Petra 30/06/09
      5.   There was another `crime against humanity` five years ago, 15:32  |  Nemesis 30/06/09
      6.   trialed or not... 15:35  |  ClearCut 30/06/09
      7.   Inevitable decision 15:38  |  Henk 30/06/09
      8.   The campaign to indict war criminals will go on. Learn and act 15:45  |  YESH GVUL 30/06/09
      9.   No. 1 Perfect! 16:18  |  Dan 30/06/09
      10.   The "ch`ain" in Spain is mainly on the train 17:16  |  Magpie 30/06/09
      11.   They were obviously bullied by the Jewish lobby in Spain 17:35  |  Nemesis 30/06/09
      12.   Lets sue them for 1492 expulsion of Jews 17:45  |  Israeli citizen 30/06/09
      13.   Who will sue the Inquisition`s crimes? Who will open the box? 17:46  |  Israeli citizen 30/06/09
      14.   Interesting turn-around 18:41  |  Murray 30/06/09
      15.   Spain Never Had A Case To Begin With!!! 18:57  |  Heather Czerniak 30/06/09
      16.   real guilt 20:12  |  Wyman 30/06/09
      17.   Nemesis 20:12  |  David 30/06/09
      18.   Spanish Hypocracy 20:15  |  Jew with memory 30/06/09
      19.   the title should be different 20:20  |  dani.a 30/06/09
      20.   A moral question 22:26  |  American Patriot 30/06/09
      21.   Spain drops "War Crime" probe 22:55  |  John Q. Public 30/06/09
      22.   Good to hear that IDF deliberate culpability disproved... 00:22  |  Esther 01/07/09
      23.   Criminals at large 03:38  |  Steve 01/07/09
      24.   Spain`s courts 03:45  |  Josiah J. Ben David 01/07/09
      25.   Spanish crimes against humanity. Too long to list them all 04:19  |  Schmidlap 01/07/09
      26.   A dangerous precedent has been set. 09:39  |  Nick Ferriman 01/07/09
      27.   Sorry, Esther, completely wrong 15:58  |  Murray 01/07/09
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