RAMALLAH, November 1 (JMCC) - Former head of Israeli security Avi Dichter was denied a request for immunity from prosecution in Spain, says a human rights group. 

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights applauded the move by Spanish authorities, which was made after a request by Dichter to be allowed to travel to Spain. Dichter is currently the subject of a criminal lawsuit before Spanish courts related to the assassination of Saleh Shehadeh in Gaza in 2002.

The case targets seven Israeli officials, including Dichter, in the dropping of a one-ton bomb over a Gaza residential neighborhood. Fourteen civilians were killed, along with Hamas military wing commander Shehadeh and his bodyguard.

The human rights group charges Dichter and other officials with breaching the Geneva Convention, and along with other war crimes, crimes against humanity.

The case is currently pending before the Spanish Constitutional Court.