The Ynet website reported today (16 June) that a soldier in the Givati Brigade is to be summoned for a hearing before filing of an indictment relating to the killing of Riyeh Abu Hajaj (64) and Majda Abu Hajaj (37), a mother and daughter from the Juher a-Dik neighborhood in Gaza, on 4 January 2009. The two women were carrying white flags at the time they were killed. The event was first reported by B'Tselem. It is not known to B'Tselem whether the military advocate general's office also intends to take action against the commanders involved.
B'Tselem's investigation revealed that, early in the morning of 4 January 2009, a shell was fired at the building in which the Abu Hajaj family lived. At the time, there were about fifteen members of the extended family in the building. The only person injured was Manar Abu Hajaj, 13, who suffered a slight injury to her hand. Immediately afterwards, the occupants left the building and stood in front of the building so the soldiers could see they were civilians, with women and children among them. About fifteen minutes later, the family went to the house of a neighbor, Muhammad a-Safi, where they remained until they were informed, around noontime, that the army ordered the residents, by announcements on the local radio station, to leave their houses and go toward Gaza's city center.
The Abu Hajaj and a-Safdi families, a total of about 30 persons, made a few white flags from sheets and left the a-Safdi house. Ahmad a-Safdi, 25, and Majda Abu Hajaj, each carrying a white flag, walked at the head of the group. When they saw tanks about 150 meters from them, the two of them waved the flags, and the children in the group sat on the ground. Suddenly, and without warning, shots were fired at the residents, killing Majda Abu Hajaj on the spot. Her mother, Riyeh Abu Hajaj, was severely wounded by the gunfire. The group ran to tin huts situated east of the Abu Hajaj family's house. Two of the residents carried the wounded Riyeh Abu Hajaj. She died a few minutes later. Despite more gunfire at them, the group managed to get back to a-Safdi's house, where they hid.
The families were forced to abandon the two women's bodies in the area, and it was not until 19 January that the bodies, by then decomposed, were taken to hospital. Before then, the various rescue teams that had been summoned by the family were unable to enter the area.
B'Tselem wrote to the judge advocate general on 14 May 2009, demanding a Military Police Investigation Unit investigation into the incident. The organization attached photos of the site of the incident, including its coordinates. B'Tselem also demanded that the responsibility of the command echelon and the orders given to the soldiers be investigated. The event was also reported in the Human Rights Watch report “White Flag Deaths” and in the goldstone report (Page 216).
In early October 2009, B'Tselem assisted the MPIU in coordinating the taking of testimonies from four witnesses, who gave their testimony on 8 October 2009 at the Coordination and Liaison Office at Erez. In addition, B'Tselem provided the MPIU with medical documents and death certificates along with documents confirming that the house of the family had been partially destroyed during Operation Cast Lead.
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