Soldier jailed for accidentally killing girlfriend with IDF gun

An Israeli military court on Wednesday convicted an IDF soldier of killing his girlfriend in an accidental shooting involving his army-issue weapon while he was on home leave.

The soldier, Fabio Sah-Kamal, was convicted under a plea deal for the killing of 17-year-old Vital Barmash six months ago. If the court approves the deal, he will spend 28 months in jail.

Barmash’s family, who were present in the court, expressed their opposition to the deal, saying the sentence “did not reflect the severity of the crime,” the Ynet news website reported.

“I would give my life for Vital’s, there is not a day that I don’t think of her,” Sah-Kamal said as he broke down in tears in court while reading a four-page statement expressing his regret for the incident.

“My life has been ruined. My whole life I will live with what I did and continue to pay for it, no matter how long I spend in prison,” he said.

The military prosecutor said it accepted the plea bargain, because it was convinced that the bullet accidentally discharged while he was trying to clear a bullet from the chamber and had not been playing with the weapon.

Sah-Kamal was initially charged with manslaughter and attempting to subvert a witness after he tried to get another friend who was in the room at the time of the incident to say that Barmash had been playing with the rifle.