LONDON, April 10 (UPI) -- A Briton shot dead by an Israeli soldier in the Gaza Strip was deliberately and unlawfully killed, an inquest ruled Monday.
Tom Hurndall, 22, from London, was shot in the head in April 2003 as he tried to move Palestinian children away from Israeli gunfire in the Rafah refugee camp. He fell into a coma and died from his injuries nine months later.
Ex-soldier Taysir Hayb has already been jailed for his manslaughter but Hurndall's family believe he was made a scapegoat and that the blame lies further up the chain of command. They want the British government to investigate five officers named during the inquest, and say they will seek to bring private prosecutions if it does not do so.
The verdict follows last week's ruling that James Miller, a British film-maker killed by an Israeli soldier in Gaza just weeks after Hurndall's shooting, was murdered. The coroner is to write to the attorney-general about both cases, to urge him to take action.
The jury in Hurndall's case said: "He was shot intentionally with the intention of killing him.
"The jury would like to express its dismay with the lack of cooperation from the Israeli authorities."
The two cases have severely damaged relations between British and Israeli authorities. The Metropolitan Police and the Foreign Office also complained of Israeli obstruction in their investigations into Miller's death, while Israel refused to send a representative to the Hurndall hearing.
Speaking after the verdict, Anthony Hurndall, Tom's father, said the British government was obliged to pursue those responsible by the Geneva Conventions Act, under which illegal killing was a war crime.
He called on Israel to introduce proper process to ensure that all civilian deaths were investigated, including those of Palestinians.
