Criticism of Israeli War Crimes
Mounts
12/01/2009
January 10, 2009
Criticism of Israeli War Crimes Mounts
by Jonathan Cook
Criticism by international watchdog groups over the
increasing death toll in Gaza mounted this week as the
first legal actions inside Israel were launched accusing
the army of intentionally harming the enclave's civilian
population.
The petitions – over attacks on medical personnel and
the shelling of United Nations schools in Gaza – follow
statements by senior Israeli commanders that they have
been using heavy firepower to protect soldiers during
their advance on built-up areas. "We are very violent,"
one told Israeli media.
There is also growing evidence that Israeli forces have
been firing phosphorus shells over densely populated
areas in a move that risks violating international law
by inflicting burns on civilians.
The Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, meanwhile,
called the events in Gaza a "new Nakba," referring to
the catastrophe that dispossessed the Palestinians in
1948. The Palestinian Authority revealed that it was
planning to seek the prosecution of Israel's leaders for
war crimes in the international courts.
The legal challenges follow a wave of Israeli attacks on
schools, universities, mosques, hospitals, and
ambulances in the past few days. The army claims the
attacks are justified because the sites are being used
by Hamas fighters.
A petition to the Israeli courts was announced on
Wednesday by Taleb al-Sanaa, an Arab member of the
Israeli parliament, over the shelling on Tuesday of a UN
school in the Jabaliya refugee camp that killed at least
40 Palestinians sheltering there.
UN officials, noting that they had passed on the
school's GPS coordinates to Israel and that it was
clearly marked with a UN flag, insisted that only
civilians had sought refuge at the school. The UN has
demanded an investigation.
Al-Sanaa said the petition would name the prime
minister, Ehud Olmert, the foreign minister, Tzipi Livni,
and the defense minister, Ehud Barak, as the responsible
parties. "Israel needs to decide whether it wants to be
a terrorist organization like Hamas or respect
international law," he said.
A further petition has been launched by eight Israeli
human rights groups, demanding that Israel's Supreme
Court ban the army from targeting ambulances and medical
personnel.
The petition cites a large number of cases in which
Israel has fired on ambulances, arguing that as a result
medics have been unable to treat the wounded or
transport them to hospitals.
Palestinian medics said 21 of their staff have been
killed by Israeli fire and many more wounded, according
to reports on al-Jazeera TV. The al-Durra hospital in
Gaza City was hit on Tuesday, and a day later three
mobile clinics run by a Danish charity, DanChurchAid,
were destroyed.
The International Committee of the Red Cross dropped its
usual diplomatic language this week in denouncing
Israel's refusal to allow medical teams to tend the
wounded.
During a three-hour pause in the fighting on Wednesday
rescuers managed to reach the Zaytoun neighborhood,
southeast of Gaza City, which was extensively bombed at
the start of the week.
Four children were found close to starvation alongside
15 bodies, including those of their mothers. Many other
civilians were found dead in the area, and others are
believed still to be in hiding. Israeli tanks were
stationed nearby the destroyed buildings during the
whole period.
Pierre Wettach, a Red Cross spokesman, called Israel's
delay in allowing a medical evacuation "shocking" and
"unacceptable." He added, "The Israeli military must
have been aware of the situation but did not assist the
wounded."
Physicians for Human Rights in Israel added its voice,
criticizing the Israeli authorities for repeatedly
ignoring requests to move seriously wounded civilians.
The UN suspended its aid operations on Thursday after
two of its drivers were killed and others wounded by
Israeli fire directed at one of its relief convoys
during another three-hour cease-fire.
John Ging, head of the UN relief agency in Gaza, said,
"They were coordinating their movements with the
Israelis, as they always do, only to find themselves
being fired at from the ground troops."
Palestinian sources and international observers warned
that the death toll among civilians is rising rapidly as
Israel's ground invasion pushes deeper into Gaza.
Al-Haq, a Palestinian legal rights group, warned that 80
percent of the more than 750 Palestinians killed in the
fighting so far have been civilians. According to
figures cited by the World Health Organization, at least
40 percent have been children. Another 3,000 Gazans have
been wounded.
Israeli commanders were reported in the Israeli media to
be unsurprised by the heavy toll on civilians of their
latest actions, saying their priority was to protect
soldiers.
"For us, being cautious means being aggressive," one
told the Ha'aretz newspaper. "From the minute we
entered, we've acted like we're at war. That creates
enormous damage on the ground."
The newspaper said the government had taken into account
the likely high number of Palestinian civilian
casualties when it approved the ground operation a week
ago.
Another soldier, identified as Lt. Col. Amir, told
Israeli TV on Wednesday, "We are very violent. We are
not shying away from any method of preventing casualties
among our troops."
Among the dubious tactics the army appears to be
resorting to is use of white phosphorus shells, which
burn intensely on exposure to air, creating the
firework-type explosions characteristic of Israel's
shelling of Gaza.
Although the shells produce dense clouds of smoke to
cover military operations, they also cause severe burns
on contact with skin.
Photographs of pale blue artillery shells lined up by
tanks stationed on the edge of Gaza have been identified
as American-made phosphorus munitions. Neil Gibson, a
missiles expert for Jane's, told the London Times that
the shells were an "improved model" that burned for up
to 10 minutes.
Although such shells are allowed when used solely as a
smoke screen, they are banned as a chemical weapon if
used as an anti-personnel munition. Palestinian and
international medics in Gaza have reported large numbers
of burn victims with injuries difficult to treat.
Yesterday, Amnesty International also accused Israeli
soldiers of using Palestinian civilians as human shields
– a charge Israel has repeatedly leveled against Hamas.
Malcolm Smart, a spokesman, said, "Israeli soldiers have
entered and taken up positions in a number of
Palestinian homes, forcing families to stay in a
ground-floor room while they use the rest of their house
as a military base and sniper position."
A version of this article originally appeared in The
National, published in Abu Dhabi.