OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israel's killing of four Palestinian boys in an airstrike on a Gaza beach during the 2014 war was a case of mistaken identity that does not warrant criminal charges, the military says. Witnessed by several foreign reporters, the July 16 attack fueled censure abroad of Israel's assault on the Hamas-run enclave. The Israelis have been conducting internal investigations of possible military misconduct while trying to fend off war-crimes allegations by various UN bodies. Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an Israeli military spokesman, said the air force fired on the four boys after failing to identify them as children and believing they were gunmen running in an area “utilized exclusively by militants”. Witnesses said the boys were playing soccer at the time. — AP
