After studying the findings of the probe into the March 16 incident, which took place in the southern Gaza Strip (news - web sites), chief military prosecutor Major General Menahem Finkelstein closed the file "without any steps being taken against those involved", the statement said.
Rachel Corrie, 23, was volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). She was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer in the town of Rafah as she was trying to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian house.
Witnesses are adamant that Corrie, who was standing on a mound of earth wearing a fluorescent orange jacket, was deliberately killed, but the Israeli army has consistently maintained it was an accident.
The army statement said the investigation showed Corrie was killed "while disturbing the field operations being carried out by IDF bulldozers" in an area under full Israeli control.
"From the findings it is clear that Rachel Corrie was injured as a result of earth and building rubble falling on her as she tried to climb on a pile of earth during the field work that was being carried out by an armoured IDF bulldozer," the army said.
"The armoured bulldozer team that was involved in the incident did not see Ms. Corrie, who was standing behind the mound of earth, and it was not possible to see her or to hear her voice," it said.
"It is clear the death of Ms. Corrie was not caused as a result of a direct action by the bulldozer or by its running her over, but by the falling of earth and building materials that was pushed by the bulldozer."
As a result, "it was found there is no place for taking disciplinary action against the soldiers involved," the statement said, expressing the army's "sorrow over every incident in which innocent people are harmed."
The investigation included the interrogation of the soldiers involved and of eyewitnesses, the findings of the autopsy and the collection of evidence, it said.
But Israeli army sources pointed the finger squarely at the ISM activists, alleging it was their "illegal and irresponsible" action that was responsible for Corrie's death.
"It is not possible to overlook the illegal and irresponsible behaviour of the members of the ISM who contributed to the tragic and distressing results of this incident," the sources said.
The ISM is a group of some 40 pro-Palestinian activists who engage in non-violent direct action to protect civilians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Shortly after the death of Corrie, the ISM was blacklisted by the Israeli authorities, who have accused the group of links to terrorism and now stipulate that foreigners wishing to enter the Gaza Strip must certify they do not belong to the movement and will not disrupt Israeli army activities.
