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Palestinians claim children were
used as human shields and hospitals targeted during 23-day conflict
By
Clancy Chassay
and
Julian Borger
•
Watch all three
documentaries
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/23/israel-gaza-war-crimes-guardian
Clancy Chassay
investigates claims from three brothers that the Israeli military
used them as
human shields during the invasion
of Gaza
Link to this video
The Guardian has compiled
detailed evidence of alleged
war crimes
committed by
Israel
during the 23-day offensive against
Gaza
earlier this year, involving the use of Palestinian children as
human shields, the targeting of medics and hospitals, and drone
aircraft firing on civilians.
Three Guardian
films based on a
month-long investigation, add weight to calls this week for a full
inquiry into the events surrounding Operation Cast Lead, which was
aimed at Hamas but left about 1,400 Palestinians dead, including up
to 300 children.
The Israeli
Defence Forces (IDF) refused to respond directly to the allegations
made against its troops, but issued statements denying the charges,
and insisted international law had been observed.
The Guardian's
investigation follows soldiers' evidence published in the Israeli
press about the killing of Palestinian civilians and complaints by
colleagues involved in the military operation that the rules of
engagement were too lax.
Amnesty
International has said Hamas should be investigated for executing at
least two dozen Palestinian men in an apparent bout of score-settling
with rivals and alleged collaborators while Operation Cast Lead was
under way.
Human rights
groups say the vast majority of offences were committed by Israel,
and that the Gaza offensive was a disproportionate response to Hamas
rocket attacks. Since 2002, there have been 21 Israeli deaths from
Hamas rockets fired from Gaza and during Operation Cast Lead there
were three Israeli civilian deaths, six Israeli soldiers killed by
Palestinian fire and four killed by friendly fire.
"Only an
investigation mandated by the UN security council can ensure
Israel's co-operation and it's the only body that can secure some
kind of prosecution," said Amnesty's Donatella Rovera, who spent two
weeks in Gaza investigating war crimes allegations. "Without a
proper investigation there is no deterrent. The message remains the
same: 'It's OK to do these things – there won't be any real
consequences.'"
Some of the most dramatic
testimony gathered by the Guardian came from
three teenage
brothers in the al-Attar family.
The trio describe how they were taken from their home at gunpoint,
made to kneel in front of tanks to deter Hamas fighters from firing
at them and sent by Israeli soldiers into Palestinian houses to
clear them.
"They would make
us go first so if any fighters shot at them the bullets would hit us
not them," 14-year-old Al'a al-Attar said.
Medics and
ambulance drivers said they were targeted
when they tried to tend to the wounded. Sixteen of them were killed.
According to the World Health Organisation, more than half of Gaza's
27 hospitals and 44 clinics were damaged by Israeli bombs. Two
clinics were destroyed. In one incident, paramedics were fired on by
a tank using a shell filled with 8,000 lethal metal darts as they
were carrying a wounded man to an ambulance.Link
to this video
In a report
released today, doctors for Human Rights Israel said there was "certainty"
that Israel violated international humanitarian law during the three-week
war in January, with attacks on medics, damage to medical buildings,
indiscriminate attacks on civilians and delays in medical treatment
for the injured.
"We have noticed a
stark decline in IDF [Israeli Defence Forces] morals concerning the
Palestinian population of Gaza, which in reality amounts to a
contempt for Palestinian lives," said Dani Filc, chairman of
Physicians for Human Rights Israel.
The Guardian gathered testimony
of
missile attacks by
Israeli drones on
clearly distinguishable civilian targets. In one case a family of
six was killed when a missile hit the courtyard of their house.
Israel has not admitted to the use of drones but military experts
say their optical equipment is good enough to clearly identify
individual items of clothing worn by targets.
Link to this video
The Israeli
military issued a statement in response to the allegations saying:
"The IDF operated in accordance with the rules of war and did the
utmost to minimise harm to civilians uninvolved in combat. The IDF's
use of weapons conforms to international law."
The IDF said an
investigation was under way into allegations that hospitals were
targeted. A statement said Israeli soldiers were under standing
orders to avoid harming medics, but added: "However, in light of the
difficult reality of warfare in the Gaza Strip carried out in urban
and densely populated areas, medics who operate in the area take the
risk upon themselves."
The use of human
shields was outlawed by Israel's supreme court in 2005 after a
string of incidents. The IDF said only Hamas used human shields by
launching attacks from civilian areas.
An Israeli embassy
spokesman said any allegations from Gaza were suspect because of
Hamas pressure on witnesses. "Anyone who understands the realities
of Gaza will know that these people are not free to speak the truth.
Those that wish to speak out cannot for fear of beatings, torture or
execution at the hands of Hamas," the spokesman said in a written
statement.
However, the
accounts gathered by the Guardian are supported by the findings of
human rights organisations and soldiers' testimony published in the
Israeli press.
An IDF squad
leader is quoted in the daily newspaper Ha'aretz as saying his
soldiers interpreted the rules to mean "we should kill everyone
there [in the centre of Gaza]. Everyone there is a terrorist.
"To write 'death
to the Arabs' on the walls, to take family pictures and spit on them,
just because you can," the squad leader said. "I think this is the
main thing: To understand how much the IDF has fallen in the realm
of ethics, really. It's what I'll remember the most."
Last week, a group of 16 of the world's leading war crimes
investigators and judges called on the UN to launch a full inquiry
into "alleged gross violations of the laws of war committed by both
sides during the recent conflict in Gaza and southern Israel".
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