Occupied Jerusalem: 7 September, 2002 (IAP News)

A low-level probe by the Israeli army into the killing of more that 21 Palestinian civilians in the past few weeks concluded that that occupation Israeli troops didn’t violate fire-opening instructions.

The 21 Palestinians include seven children, a family of four in Gaza, four quarry workers near al-Khalil, and several teenagers.

Testimonies gathered by Israeli, Palestinian and human rights groups indicated the killings were deliberate and willful acts of murder and extra-judicial executions.

The Israeli probe, supervised by an army general, claimed the soldiers who killed the four quarry workers near in Hebron and the Hajeen family at the village of Ein Ejlin south of Gaza two week ago, felt “suspicious moves” and opened fire.

The report absolved the Israeli killers from any responsibility.

A survivor of the quarry massacre, Ishaq Halayka, testified during a press conference in al-Khalil on 4 September that Israeli soldiers abducted the four Palestinians workers from their place of work and shot them one after the other outside the quarry.

PA official Sa’eb Ureikat castigated the outcome of the Israeli investigation, calling it “mendacious from beginning to end.”

“We are talking about criminals and killers investigating themselves. Who would expect (Israeli Chief of Staff Moshe) Ya’alon to incriminate soldiers he orders to murder Palestinian civilians on a daily basis?”