Part of article below; whole here: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2009169248_apeuspainisraelprobe.html
A Spanish judge said Monday he will keep investigating seven current or former Israeli officials over a 2002 air force bombing in Gaza that killed a suspected Hamas militant and 14 civilians.
Prosecutors last month urged Judge Fernando Andreu of Spain's National Court to suspend the inquiry on the grounds Israel was still investigating the attack. But Andreu rejected the request on Monday, saying he has found no evidence of such an investigation in Israel.
Israel's Foreign Ministry called the decision "ridiculous" and groundless. A Palestinian human rights group hailed it as a "great victory."
Andreu first agreed to open the case in January at the request of Palestinian relatives of victims of the attack. Nine children were among the dead.
Andreu said he was acting under Spain's observance of the principle of universal jurisdiction, which holds that grave crimes such as genocide, terrorism or torture can be prosecuted here even if alleged to have been committed elsewhere.
Andreu said the 2002 bombing in densely populated Gaza City might constitute a crime against humanity. That attack with a one-ton bomb dropped from an Israeli F-16 targeted and killed alleged Hamas member Salah Shehadeh along with 14 other people. Israel has defended the attack as a legitimate strike against a terrorist.
On Monday, the Spanish judge wrote that Israel's military conducted an internal investigation but Israeli military and civilian prosecutors declined to open proceedings of their own. He said for this reason Spain has jurisdiction to keep investigating.
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