Child used as human shield by Israelis

The conviction was the first by an Israeli court of widespread human rights abuses by troops during a three-week offensive that was censured by the international community for its toll on Palestinian civilians.

The two infantry sergeants seized control of an apartment building in the Gaza City suburb of Tel Al-Hawa district on Jan. 15, 2009 while under fire, according to a summary of the verdict. Rounding up residents, they came across bags in a bathroom and ordered a nine-year-old boy from the group of civilians to check if they had been rigged with explosives.

"The boy, who feared for his fate and was under the stress of the situation, wet his pants," the three-judge panel wrote in the verdict. "The court has noted that, unlike the soldiers, the child was, naturally, bereft of any form of protection."

The boy opened a bag belonging to his family, but when he failed to open another, the soldiers pulled him back and shot at it, endangering everyone present, the verdict said, Kazinform cites Arab News. See www.arabnews.com