Parents of Briton killed by IDF fire in Gaza seek compensation
'We claim that the denial to the family of fair and just compensation amounts to supporting a policy of indifference and disregard for innocent civilians,' Tom Hurndall's parents say in letter to Israeli ambassador to London, adding they faced a 'wall of deceit and fabrication over the shooting'
The parents of British student British student Tom Hurndall, who was fatally shot by an IDF soldier in Gaza five years ago, are demanding compensation from the Israeli government and a formal apology as they try to build a criminal case against senior Israeli army officers, The Guardian reported on Friday.
According to the British newspaper, his parents, Jocelyn and Anthony Hurndall, wrote to Israeli ambassador in London, Ron Prosor and asked for an urgent meeting. The family is still trying to gather sufficient evidence to bring war crimes charges in Britain against several Israeli army officers, the report said.
In their letter to Prosor, Hurndall's parents wrote: "We claim that the denial to the family of fair and just compensation amounts to supporting a policy of indifference and disregard for ... innocent civilians. This can lead to an international criminal responsibility for whoever acknowledges such an attitude."
Severe brain injury
According to The Guardian, they said in the letter that they had faced a "wall of deceit and fabrication over the shooting" before the trial and were now facing "a further debilitating and prolonged battle to get meaningful compensation".
The family has not revealed the amount of compensation they are seeking, The Guardian said, but last week the Israeli media put the amount at $988,000, although, according to The Guardian, the correct figure is believed to be higher.
On April 11 2003, Hurndall, a 22-year-old photography student, attended a demonstration in Rafah organized by a group called the International Solidarity Movement. Shots were fired from an Israeli army watchtower and Hurndall, who wore a fluorescent jacket, was helping to pull a group of Palestinian children to safety when he was shot in the head. He suffered a severe brain injury and died nine months later in hospital in London.
At first the IDF denied responsibility, but in August 2005 an Israeli soldier, Taysir Heib, was sentenced to eight years in jail for manslaughter. The following year a British inquest jury ruled that the soldier had shot Hurndall "with the intention of killing him".
