Israeli authorities have begun an investigation into the death of a 13-year-old Palestinian girl last week after she was shot at least 15 times by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF).
Soldiers serving with the unit that shot Iyman Hams have claimed their commander emptied his gun into her as she lay on the ground near an Israeli outpost in Rafah refugee camp near the Egyptian border.
Initially the IDF claimed soldiers shot and killed Hams as she planted a bomb near the army outpost which is located in southern Gaza. Troops claimed the schoolbag she threw away after she was challenged was mistaken for a bomb.
Iyman was wearing her school uniform when she was shot.
However, in interview with the Israeli media, two soldiers described how their commander shot her twice as she lay on the ground and then went back a second time and sprayed her with automatic weapons fire.
They said the commander had approached the girl, after she had already been shot and repeatedly shot her as they pleaded with him to stop.
The soldiers said that before the commander shot the girl they shouted to him over the two-way radio: "Don't shoot, she's a little girl."
"We saw her from a distance of 70 metres. She was fired at . . . from the outpost. She fled and was wounded. I understood that she was dead. The platoon commander neared her, shot two bullets at her, returned toward the force, turned back to her, put the weapon on automatic - and emptied his entire clip," one soldier told the media.
"He sprayed her. We were in shock, we held our heads. We couldn't believe what he had done. . . . He was hot for a long time to take out terrorists and shot the girl to relieve pressure," the soldier said.
Dr Ali Musa, director of the hospital in Rafah, said Hams was hit by at least 15 bullets, most in the upper body.
Agencies