Israel's military has dismissed two officers from their posts and will reprimand a battalion commander over the death of an elderly Palestinian American man last month.
Omar Abdalmajeed As'ad, 78, who was a US national, was found dead after being detained by Israeli troops in Jiljilya village in the occupied West Bank on January 12.
A Palestinian autopsy found Mr As'ad, who had pre-existing heart conditions, had suffered sudden cardiac arrest caused by the stress of being manhandled.
The military at the time said Mr As'ad was alive when the soldiers left him.
In a summary of its investigation on Monday, the military said Mr As'ad's death resulted from "moral failure and poor decision-making" on the parts of the soldiers concerned.
it found Mr As'ad had refused to cooperate with troops operating in the area and that "his hands were tied and he was gagged for a short time".
After being detained for half an hour, he and three others were released, it said.
"The soldiers did not identify signs of distress or other suspicious signs concerning Assad's health. The soldiers assessed that Assad was asleep and did not try to wake him," the military statement said, using a variant spelling of his name.
"The investigation concluded that the incident was a grave and unfortunate event, resulting from a moral failure and poor decision-making on the part of the soldiers.
"One of the IDF's [Israel Defense Forces'] core values — to protect human life — was violated.
"It was further determined that there was no use of violence during the incident apart from when Assad was apprehended after refusing to cooperate.
"The soldiers failed in their obligations by leaving Assad lying on the floor without the required treatment and without reporting the incident back to their commanders."
A platoon and company commander were dismissed from their posts and would be barred from holding commanding roles for two years, the statement said.
The commander of their battalion would be reprimanded, it said.
After the autopsy, a US embassy spokesman in Jerusalem said it was "deeply saddened" by Mr As'ad's death and it supported "a thorough investigation into the circumstances of the incident".
Palestinian leaders have called for the soldiers involved to be prosecuted in an international court, with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh calling Mr As'ad's death a "crime".
Mr As'ad was a former Milwaukee, Wisconsin, resident who lived in the United States for decades and returned to the West Bank 10 years ago, his brother told Reuters.
Israeli military police said they were carrying out their own criminal investigation, with the findings to be submitted to the Military Advocate Corps for a legal review and determinations, the military said.
Reuters/ABC
