An Israeli soldier was sentenced by a military tribunal Thursday to eight years in prison for manslaughter in the shooting death of British activist Tom Hurndall, as Hurndall was trying to protect Palestinian children. Taysir Hayb was convicted by a military court in June for the murder of Hurndall, who was shot in the head during an army operation in the Gaza Strip in April 2003. It was the first case in which an Israeli soldier has been found guilty of a crime in the killing a foreign citizen during the past four years. Hurndall’s family immediately criticized the sentence as far too light given the crime.

• Jocelyn Hurndall, mother of Tom Hurndall:
  “The Israeli Defence Force has a long way to go before they have any credibility in the eyes of the world. The world’s eyes are on Israel at the moment, people are aware in the world of the ways the Israeli force treat civilians and kill civilians. They have a very long way indeed to go before we feel we can trust their word, before we believe they will carry out a thorough Investigation.”

Witnesses said that 22 year-old Tom Hurndall was helping Palestinian children avoid Israeli tanks. He was in a coma for nine months before dying in a London hospital. During his trial, Hayb argued that a confession he gave was forced. Hayb also said he was prosecuted because he is an Arab and because his victim was a foreigner. Hurndall was a member of the International Solidarity Movement, as was Rachel Corrie, an activist from Olympia, Wash., who was crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer in March 2003. To this day, no one has been charged in her killing.