Israel “punished and terrorised” civilians in Gaza in a disproportionate attack in its three-week war on the territory earlier this year, a United Nations report has found. Judge Richard Goldstone, who led the inquiry, said he found evidence Israel targeted civilians and used excessive force in the assault, which was launched on December 27. “The mission concluded that actions amounting to war crimes, and possibly in some respects crimes against humanity, were committed by the Israel Defence Force,” Goldstone, a former South African justice, said. More than 1,400 Palestinians – about a third of them women and children – were killed in the war. Thirteen Israelis died. Read more »
Israel’s three-week war in Gaza brought a wave of international criticism. About 1,400 people died and accusations of possible war crimes have been levelled against both the Israeli military and the Palestinian militant groups in Gaza, notably Hamas. The latest and most prominent inquiry, led by Richard Goldstone, a respected South African judge, was conducted for the UN human rights council.
Read UN report and access many information resources via The Guardian’s article. Read more »
“My commanders on the ground, my company commander, battalion commander, and brigade commander backed me up, and I did what I was taught by my superiors,” Malul added… “[T]he GOC knows what’s going on but chooses to stay in his ivory tower and keep his face clean.”
IOA Editor: Obviously, the junior officer is correct on this. By treating this case as a violation of internal IDF rules, and an exception to the usual practices, the IDF and its high-ranking officers seek to protect themselves from accusations of human rights violations, and from being charged for the acts they are personally responsible for by the International Court of Justice. As numerous findings by many international organizations have indicated, Israel routinely abuses and tortures Palestinian prisoners. As the officer pointed out, in his own defense, this is a charade.
The IDF General Command is made up of professional officers who made their way up the ranks, starting at low level field positions. The Occupation is now 42 years old, and almost nine years passed since the start of the Second Intifada, which saw a dramatic increase of IDF violence against Palestinians. Therefore, all current top IDF officers must be thoroughly familiar with the realities of the Occupation, where the slapping of a detainee – in violation of international law – is probably the least of the evils that take place daily.
Also interesting is the accused officer’s comment “The IDF is dealing with shit, and someone needs to get his hands dirty…” This follows closely a recent comment made by Deputy PM Ya’alon “when I was chief of staff, I told several closed forums that any time politicians bring forth the dove of peace, its up to the army to clean up after them,” reported earlier on the IOA website. Ya’alon, and the rest of the IDF machine are there to deal with ‘doves of peace’ as they know best: with abuse and torture. Read more »
September 10, 2009 | Posted in
IDF/War Crimes |
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The vast majority of the Palestinians killed in Israel’s operation in the Gaza Strip last winter were innocent civilians rather than combatants, according to a new report to be published by the B’Tselem organization Wednesday morning. This is the opposite of what the Israel Defense Forces has said. Read more »
The “Shock Vehicle” is outfitted with new systems to deal with disorder. In addition, it can remove obstacles weighing half a ton. As of next month, it will be put to use in all IDF West Bank units.
IOA Editor: The latest toy in the IDF killing arsenal is touted as increasing security to both Occupation soldiers and demonstrators. The IDF PR team didn’t mention the recent deaths and grave injuries of anti-Occupation demonstrators targeted by soldiers using gas canister launchers. The “Shock Vehicle” will undoubtedly help soldiers improve their aim when launching gas canisters. Read more »
“They are breaking their silence about the only democracy in the Middle East that has an independent legal system and an investigative press that does not cease dealing with these issues,” Netanyahu told reporters…
IOA Editor: Again, the “Only-Democracy-in-the-Middle-East” cannot deal substantively with challenges to its violent Occupation and Gaza war crimes, such as those coming from the UN, HRW, and other international human-rights organizations. Instead, it tries to silence critical organizations and choke their international NGO funding. Read more »
Forty Palestinians from the Gaza Strip were incarcerated in Israel Prison Service facilities during Operation Cast Lead at the beginning of this year, and 21 are still in prison. That’s a very small number, compared to the many hundreds the Israel Defense Forces arrested in Gaza, and as compared with the hundreds who were transferred for interrogation to various detention facilities in Israel before being released. Read more »
August 14, 2009 | Posted in
Gaza,
IDF/War Crimes |
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“The Israeli military is stonewalling in the face of evidence that its soldiers killed civilians waving white flags in areas it controlled and where there were no Palestinian fighters. These cases need thorough, independent investigations.”
Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch Read more »
This week’s reports by The Times of London give the impression that Israel is raising the bar in the war of nerves against Iran and Hezbollah. On Monday the newspaper reported that Iran had completed its nuclear research program, and that its progress toward building a nuclear bomb depends only on the decision of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The following day, it warned of the danger of escalation between Israel and Hezbollah on the Lebanese border. Read more »
August 6, 2009 | Posted in
IDF/War Crimes |
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Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza at the beginning of the year was a “proportional response” to attacks by the Islamist group, the Foreign Ministry said in a defense brief on Operation Cast Lead released Thursday. Read more »
