Israeli soldier arrested over 'sniper' shooting of unarmed British peace protester

An Israeli soldier has been arrested in connection with shooting the unarmed British peace protester Thomas Hurndall in the head, the Israeli army said yesterday.

The incident in Rafah, in the Gaza Strip, last April, left Mr Hurndall clinically dead. The 22-year-old, who is being kept alive in a London hospital, was trying to help Palestinian children who were trapped under fire to safety when he was shot, witnesses said.

This is the first success for Mr Hurndall's parents' campaign for those responsible to be brought to justice. The Israeli army said the unnamed soldier had claimed he fired at a man holding a pistol, but that he had been remanded in custody after he "admitted to firing in proximity to an unarmed civilian as a deterrent".

"I'm glad this statement of truth has at least come out as a first step," Mr Hurndall's mother, Jocelyn, said. "They have finally uncovered the facts which have led them to seriously question the legitimacy of the soldier's original statement ... No one could possibly believe that he shot Tom, who was unarmed, through the forehead, as a warning."

Mr Hurndall, a photography student, was in the Gaza Strip with the International Solidarity Movement, a peace movement whose unarmed volunteers live with Palestinians in some of the most dangerous parts of the Occupied Territories, often acting as human shields.

Mr Hurndall saw that Palestinian children had become trapped when an Israeli sniper began firing into the street where they were playing, eyewitnesses said. Twice he crossed the line of fire to escort children to safety. The second time he was shot in the head.

His parents travelled to the Gaza Strip to make their own investigation. Despite the arrest of the soldier, Mrs Hurndall said she did "remain sceptical" about the prospects of justice. Mr Hurndall was one of several unarmed civilians who have been killed or seriously wounded by the Israeli army in recent years. UN workers accused the Israeli army of attempting a cover-up after Iain Hook, an unarmed UN worker in Jenin, was killed in November 2002.

There had been other incidents in Rafah. Rachel Corrie, an American ISM volunteer, was crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer a month before Mr Hurndall was shot.And a month after, James Miller, a British TV cameraman, was shot dead by Israeli soldiers.