C'tee: No criminal misconduct in Shehade targeted killing

Report on 2002 hit doesn't recommend punishment for those involved; says deaths of 13 citizens "disproportionate," result of "faulty intelligence."

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Netanyahu Shahada Report 311 (photo credit: Moshe Milner/GPO)
Netanyahu Shahada Report 311
(photo credit: Moshe Milner/GPO)
The committee charged with investigating the IDF's 2002 assassination of terrorist Salah Shehade in Gaza ruled Sunday that the operation did not constitute a criminal act and does not recommend that those involved be punished.
The committee's report added that the deaths of innocent people in the operation came as a result of faulty intelligence information.
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The committee, headed by retired judge Tova Strasberg Cohen, handed over their report on the incident to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday.
An IAF strike in Gaza killed Shehade and 13 other Palestinians, including women and children in 2002. Many more were wounded in the airstrike. The committee ruled that the harm inflicted on citizens was "disproportionate" but added that "the lesson was learned," by the IDF brass.
Shehade served as the head of the military wing of Hamas and was responsible for multiple terror attacks within Israel.
The committee, formed by former prime minister Ehud Olmert in 2008, said that the killing of Shehade, and similar targeted killings, are a legitimate preventative measure, considering the danger posed by terrorism.
"Despite the result in this instance, the preventative strike was, and remains, a legitimate tool in the murderous war on terror."