The UN says the war on Palestine is a crime of war against Israel
Israeli soldiers had systematically and intentionally endangered the children during their 22 days of the offensive against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to a UN report released Monday. The report said a working group has documented and verified reports of violations "too numerous to mention."
For example, on 15 January in a city southwest of Gaza City, soldiers of the Israel Defense Force has ordered a 11-year-old Palestinian boy to open the packets, probably for the soldiers would be nice if they contain explosives, 43-page report said.
They then forced the boy to walk before them in the city, he said. When the soldiers came under fire, "the boy was in front of the group," says the report.
He said that the boy was later released.
Also cited were "credible reports" that the accused Hamas, the Palestinian militant group which runs the Gaza Strip, the use of human shields and endangering civilians.
But the finger at the Israelis for more severe criticism.
A spokesman for the Israeli prime minister said that the report of another example of "biased and unfair" the attitude of the UN Human Rights, which asked him.
The report cited two incidents of January 3. In one, she says, after a tank round struck near a house, a father and his two son - two under the age of 11 - to address the damage.
"As they left their homes, IDF soldiers shot and killed them (in front of their house), with the girl witnesses," says the report.
In the second, he said, "the Israeli soldiers entered a family home in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City. Standing at the door, they asked the head of the family out and shot him dead, without warning, while he was holding his ID, raised hands in the air and then began to fire indiscriminately and without warning in the room where the rest of the family is huddled together.
"The eldest son is screaming in vain for the word" children "in Hebrew to warn the soldiers. The shooting did not stop until everyone was lying on the ground. The mother and four of brothers, aged 2-12 years, were injured, one of them, aged 4, fatally. The alleged incidents occurring during the operation Cast Lead, which was launched to end December 27 rocket attacks into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip and ended January 17, with a cease-fire.
The UN report called Israel's disproportionate reaction.
Of the estimated 1453 people killed in the conflict, 1440 were Palestinian, including 431 children and 114 women, the report said.
The 13 Israelis killed included three civilians and six soldiers killed by Hamas, and four soldiers killed by friendly fire, "she says.
The report of the Israeli operation has led to "a dramatic deterioration of living conditions of the civilian population."
She cited "targeted and indiscriminate" attacks against hospitals and clinics, water facilities and wastewater treatment, public buildings, utilities and agriculture and the offensive, said "the intensification of the already catastrophic humanitarian situation of the Palestinian people. "
He said Israeli strikes damaged more than 200 schools and left more than 70,000 people homeless.
"There are strong and credible allegations of war crimes and other violations of international standards," he said, adding that many observers have said the war crimes investigations should be undertaken.
"The alternative is de facto impunity," he said.
She called for the end of the Israeli blockade of Gaza and the free passage on the territory of food, medicines, fuel and building materials.
Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the report called "another example of a biased and unfair the rapporteur of the Human Rights Council, a board that has been criticized by current and previous Secretaries-General of its unbalanced attitudes towards Israel. "
He added: "The negative effects on the determination by the Board of Israel has done a disservice to the issue of human rights internationally as evidenced by the larger NGOs [nongovernmental organizations] on the rights of man. "
Another report released Monday was also critical of the IDF. The report by Physicians for Human Rights declared the Gaza Strip IDF incursion violated its own code of ethics.
The report of the medical group, which shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997, cited cases where the IDF, he said not to evacuate the wounded civilians to the days and teams prevented Palestinians from reaching the wounded, and said that some of them died as a result.
16 He told the Palestinian medical personnel have been killed by IDF gunfire and 25 were wounded during the IDF operation, and accused the IDF of attacking the 34 medical centers, in breach of the 'IDF's own code of ethics for the fight against terrorism. "
In response, the IDF accused Hamas of using the medical vehicles, facilities and uniforms for its members to hide activity.
"Hamas ambulances used to" rescue "terror activists to use the battlefield and hospitals and medical facilities and places of refuge", the Israelis, said in a written statement.
"Despite this, throughout the fighting, the IDF forces were asked to avoid firing on ambulances, even if they were used by armed combatants. They were instructed to take only if there was fire in the direction of our forces from the direction of the ambulance. "
As regards the reported delays in evacuations accident, "there are real difficulties in evacuating the wounded, because of roadblocks, and trapped dirt roads mounds placed by Hamas, as well as damage to infrastructure, "said the statement.
However, he said, the Israeli army investigation is ongoing and its conclusions will be made public once it is completed.
But Dr. Dani Filc, PHR-Israel president, was skeptical that the investigation would be useful. "There are doubts that the Israeli army is the institution to investigate suspicions of such violations," he said.
"The IDF many promises of the High Court to consider the attacks on medical teams and medical centers have been met, and there are suspicions about its seriousness and willingness to complete the matter."
The Israeli army did accept criticism Monday on another issue - the practice of some Israeli soldiers to wear T-shirts that feel tolerate acts of violence against Palestinians.
The Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz reported that Israeli soldiers who have completed basic training ordered t-shirts, one of which showed a pregnant Arab in sight of a gun sight with a caption reading "1 Shot 2 Kills. " Another showing a small child in the sight of a firearm was subtitled, "The smaller they are, it is difficult."
"The examples presented by the Haaretz journalist are not in conformity with the values and the IDF are simply in bad taste", the Israeli army said in a written statement. "This type of humor is inappropriate and should be condemned."
Israeli soldiers said last week that Palestinian civilians were killed and Palestinian property intentionally destroyed during the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, according to Haaretz.
The Israeli army said its investigation into the claims, but expressed skepticism top general on Monday.
"I do not think that soldiers serving in the IDF wounded civilians in cold blood, but we will await the results of the investigation," Lieutenant General Ashkenazi, Chief of Staff, said in a speech.
"I tell you that it is a moral and ideological army."
He blamed Hamas for the choice "to fight in densely populated areas.
March 24, 2009 at 5:47 AM
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