A key witness in a civil case brought by the family of US activist Rachel Corrie, killed by an Israeli bulldozer during a demonstration in Gaza, said on Sunday that she had caused her own death.

Retired Colonel Pinhas Zuaretz, a former brigade commander in Gaza, said a military police investigation into the March 2003 incident found no fault with the behaviour of the bulldozer driver or the officers supervising him.

“Their operational behaviour was correct,” he told the Haifa courtroom, as Corrie’s parents Craig and Cindy listened intently through interpreters.

He said the massive, armoured D9 bulldozer was demolishing buildings from which shots had been fired at Israeli soldiers in a highly dangerous zone near the Gaza-Egypt border.

Zuaretz was giving evidence on the last day of hearings in the action brought by the Corries, who are dissatisfied with the outcome of the Israeli military investigation.

They are suing the state of Israel and the defence ministry for one dollar plus costs.

The retired colonel said the bulldozer operator did not see Corrie because she was behind a pile of rubble, and that a concrete pillar among the debris had struck and killed her.

“She was killed in an accident caused by her own negligence,” he said. “Anyone who runs toward the fire either has very deep ideology or is stupid.”