Probe closed into Cast Lead strike

On Tuesday, The Military Advocate General informed the Human Rights Group B'Tselem that it had closed the Military Police investigation into an incident in which a family in Gaza were killed during an IDF strike during Operation Cast Lead in 2009. In a letter to B'Tselem, who filed a complaint over the incident, military prosecutors rejected claims that the IDF officers and soldiers involved, intentionally targeted civilians or caused death through negligence. The investigation focused on the bombing on January 5, 2009, during the ground offensive stage of the three-week operation, of a home in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighborhood which killed 21 members of the Samouni family. The case was highlighted in the Goldstone Report -- which investigated alleged Israeli war crimes during the operation.