Israel Committed Human Rights Violations In Gaza: UN Investigators

Investigators reporting to the United Nations Human Rights Council Monday enumerated a number of human rights violations committed by Israel during its Gaza incursion, including the specific targeting of occupied civilian homes and the use of children as human shields. As Reuters reports:

The accusations came in reports to the U.N. Human Rights Council which also called for an urgent end to Israeli restrictions on humanitarian supplies to Gaza and a full international investigation into the conflict.

"Civilian targets, particularly homes and their occupants, appear to have taken the brunt of the attacks, but schools and medical facilities have also been hit," said one report by Radhika Coomaraswamy, the U.N. Secretary-General's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.

Coomaraswamy also revealed details of one incident in particular wherein Israeli Defense Forces used an 11 year-old Palestinian boy as a human shield. According to the AP:

The Israeli Defence force ordered the boy to walk in front of soldiers being fired on in the Gaza neighborhood of Tel al-Hawa and enter buildings before them, said the UN Secretary-General's envoy for protecting children in armed conflict.

The boy also was told to open the bags of Palestinians -- presumably to protect the soldiers from possible explosives -- before being released at the entrance to a hospital, Radhika Coomaraswamy said.

She said the Jan. 15 incident, after Israeli tanks had rolled into the neighbourhood and during "intense operations," was a violation of Israeli and international law.

Also reporting to the Human Rights Council Monday was Richard Falk, admittedly a long-time critic of Israel, who most recently has focused on the Gaza operation's legality. According to the BBC:

Because Mr Falk was unable to enter the Palestinian territories, his latest report focuses on the legality of Israel's January operation in Gaza in general, rather than on specific cases or claims that disproportionate force was used.

Mr Falk said that in order to determine if the war was legal, it was necessary to assess whether Israeli forces could differentiate between civilian and military targets in Gaza.

"If it is not possible to do so, then launching the attacks is inherently unlawful, and would seem to constitute a war crime of the greatest magnitude under international law," Mr Falk's report says.

However, this thread of reports has been rebuffed by Israel as part of a larger pattern to demonize the Jewish state. According to the Reuters report:

The overall report was criticized in the 47-nation Council by Israel's ambassador Aharon Leshno Yar, who said it "willfully ignores and downplays the terrorist and other threats we face," and the use by Hamas of human shields.

Leshno Yar said the 43-page document was part of a pattern of "demonizing Israel" in the Council -- where an informal bloc of Islamic and African nations usually backed by Russia, China and Cuba has a built-in majority.

Comments

[skialethia]

Let's be clear on this: What we have here is a country that brags about being a beacon of democracy in the Middle East, bulldozing homes, stealing land, crowding peoples into ghettos surrounded by a wall that encroaches on more of their land; guarded by over 600 checkpoints and sniper towers.

What we have is the largest open-air prison in the world with hermetic borders where the flow of humanitarian aid, medical supplies and reconstruction aid has been seriously diminished.

What we have are people living under the yoke of occupation and oppression who are being subjected to all manner of injustices with absolutely no recourse or legal help, with systematic assassinations that include children and civilians, and when these people try to take justice into their own hands and retaliate against their oppressor, they are decimated further and their infrastructure which is already poor to begin with is bombed back to the stone age and war crimes are commited against them in the process: drones with flawless precision technology kill innocent families including children, women too are targeted by them, young people are used as human shields, families were rounded up in homes and then bombed; close to a dozen clinics and hospitals were bombed, at least 16 medics were shot at and deliberately killed while they collected the wounded; schools-bombed, and children burned by phosphorous explosives and maimed with Dime bombs.

These are the facts; this is the reality; everything else in pure rubbish and deception.

[primeelite]

Israel has always targeted civilians just as Hamas has always targeted civilians. Many countries in the middle-east don't differentiate between soldier and civilian because wars are becoming uniform-less.

[BubbaC33]

You could not be more wrong. I was interested, you are basing your accusation about the IDF on what? I served and I can tell you we were told again and again to avoid civilian casualties.
And I can guarantee Israel is the only nation in the region that does investigate such atrocities and punishes any offenders found guilty.

[arvay]

name some.

[iRob08]

And I always try to avoid choosing the wrong numbers when I play Lotto...

Dang my luck. I'm glad no one loses their life when I don't win. I would have to take responsibility.

[11907281]

L0L!!!! And my unicorn can see the future .... a future where the meek inherit the earth. Guess who the meek are in this case?

[arvay]

Ha, as the press has reported, they routinely issue a statement that the IDF is the "most moral army in the world.

The facts say otherwise.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/world/middleeast/20gaza.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=israel%20gaza%20soldiers&st=cse

[SouthpawSass]

Israel, violating human rights? Nah, can't be. Their so, so nice and democratic and their our friends. We wouldn't be friends with people who do bad things. Must be a mistake.


(Pssst, is AIPAC looking? No? Okay, I say we march into Gaza and liberate the Palestinians)

[BubbaC33]

The Israelis do not occupy Gaza. Yes, the border with Israel is closed, but that is clearly a measure Israel can pursue legally and ethically. If Gaza wants an open border let them talk to Egypt.
Here is the big difference in Israel and Arab nations. If anyone in the IDF committed a crime they will be tried and punished, if they are convicted. Compare that to any Arab nation. No one in any Arab nation would be held to account for any atrocities. Ask the folks in Hama if anyone in the Syrian army was held responsible for killing everyone in an area populated by the Muslim Brotherhood.

[msfsi]

The folks in Syria don't go around pretending that they are a progressive democratic society and the only democracy in the middle east.

You're scraping the bottom of Israel's barrel of apologies when you begin comparing it to a tyranical and despotic arab regimes.

[WoodyTanaka]

"The Israelis do not occupy Gaza. Yes, the border with Israel is closed, but that is clearly a measure Israel can pursue legally and ethically. If Gaza wants an open border let them talk to Egypt."

Baloney. While a case might be made that neither Israel nor Egypt need have an open border with Gaza (a questionable assertion given the legal facts on the ground) however, Israel has a blockade of Gaza's airspace and seaports and destroyed Gaza's airport. Egypt had nothing to do with this. Since Israel has taken it upon itself to limit access to Gaza's territorial waters and airspace, it is an occupying power, with all the responsibilities that entails under international law.

[fbr79]

Richard Falk again? Just give him a column at HP.

[msfsi]

Is that all you discerened? nice deflection.

[Hoslo2]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/series/gaza-war-crimes-investigation

I used to get shocked before..

not anymore.

[never-ever-give-up]

Israel has been targeting civilians for a long time. This is why I am opposed to continued funding for their activities. The irrational support for Israel must end and we must try to look at their activities objectively. Our "media" does not even report most of their "defensive" actions like pushing people off of their land, bull dozing their homes and last but not least, targeting their women and children. This is not a roadway to peace.

[BubbaC33]

Offer proof that Israel has a history of targeting civilians. Here is the rub, Israel actually investigates charges leveled against the IDF, unlike any Arab government.

[chaos4700]

If by "investigate" you mean generate a paper trial that exonerates their soldiers, then maybe...

[JZ735]

No, you think?

[Freenation]

The same facts were reported by Haertz (Israeli paper) last week documenting IDF's testimonials how some of them killed civilians and got away with it...deliberate destruction of homes was carried out...

Any people who say UN is biased should read Haertz news...are they biased too..then we have even bigger problem....

[BubbaC33]

Haaertz is as accurate and reliable as the Drudge report.

[msfsi]

It's always easier to smear a newspaper then address its contents.

[chaos4700]

LOL! "The liberal media bias," with a double axle reversal to try to make it palatable to the target audience. Is Rove consulting for the IDF now?

[operaglass]

The Guardian has uncovered a lot more about this story, with videos:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/23/israel-gaza-war-crimes-guardian

[GZLives]

The very same UN that reported Israel killed 42 people in a school which was completely false.
The same UN about to stage Durban II or better known as "Jew bash, the sequel" and this is the same UN with a Human Rights Council headed by Libya and Cuba which has done nothing but pass one anti Israel resolution after another. The UN has zero credibility where this country is concerned. 7000 rockets fired at civilians isn't human rights violations? Not as far as the UN is concerned.

[arvay]

Please provide the details on the "false" report on 42 people killed -- there were so many such reports, complete with neutral witnesses and pictures.

Interesting perspective. The UN represents most of the nations of the world, and you're saying that the UN is prejudiced against Israel. Why do you think this is? The Muslim states are obvious opponents of israel, but why the others? What other nation enjoys such "popularity?"

[BubbaC33]

The US, Great Britain, the Conch Republic, and France.

[msfsi]

Fine,

Take a look at what the gaurdian report, much of their information comes from Human Rights watch.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/23/israel-gaza-war-crimes-guardian

It's not just the UN, these reports are coming in from many different sources.

[BubbaC33]

In the US the Guardian would rank alongsie the Washington Times for unbiased reporting.

[almazza98]

Yes, the same UN that created the State of Israel, that UN

[chaos4700]

Also created the state of Palestine. Well re-created it, more accurately, but still. Israel seems to forget that bit.

[scampy123]

When Luis Moreno Ocampo the chief prosecutor at the ICC was asked on AlJazeera why no Western leaders are accused of war crimes he replied"where is the evidence?
Take a trip around Baghdad Mr Ocampo where the war that was declared illegal by the UN general secretary took place.
This guy Ocampo must be removed and the white mans court abolished for a true International Criminal Court to be set up to serve all countries.

[WorkingClass]

Gee. I thought it was HAMAS that hid behind children.

[fbr79]

You tought right.

[WoodyTanaka]

Sorry, it was the cowards in the I"D"F.

[Pema]

Israels propaganda machine is breaking down. They have been doing awful stuff like this for decades....we have been kept in the dark. no longer.

[roselaw]

It isn't just the "biased" UN that is making such charges. IDF members are claiming civilians were killed indiscriminately, property was wantonly destroyed, and that military rabbis urged soldiers to show no mercy in a "holy war" for territory promised them by God.

[opine2u]

Finally!
It took the mighty United Nations quite a long time to finally come this conclusion.
However, how the rest of the world will react to this the United Nations declaration after the concerted investigation that Israel Committed Human Rights Violations in Gaza, will depend on how well they see their own nations behavior, against those who wish to stand up against being oppressed and having to endure violent acts of aggression.
Israel has lost its right to be a model of human behavior as a nation working towards by any means a peaceful coexistence in a troubled world that is calling for it more and more everyday.
How sad the loss, how failed the leadership.

[orangepetal]

So Israel should just allow terrorists to shoot rockets over her border after they leave Gaza as a peaceful gesture. Hamas is a terrorist group who is hostile to Israel, even if Palestinians elected them. Where was the UN investigation and action in efforts to prevent this sort of necessary actions? Such jokers. Perhaps they want Israel to go back into Gaza to properly prevent this so called legitimate resistance. It perhaps may be more legitimate when another nation allows it. Palestinians need to elect leaders that want to work with Israel on a two state solution and start plans for their future state. Otherwise this conflict will continue. The farce of European entities financing so called humanitaian organizations who are obviously political, after eliminating Jews on the continent, is beyond immoral, and should cease. Arab nations seeking stability should not encourage terror or religious intolerance.

[SouthpawSass]

When the Palestinians start making commercials for tourism to their refugee camps that Israel is so generously allowing them to barely exist in, then I'll pity Israel. Until then, Israel is guilty.

[BubbaC33]

Gaza is not under israeli control. The West Bank is a part of Israel, acquired during a defensive war we won in 1967. And I like the way you just assume Israel is guilty with no trial, no testimony in a court setting, and no convictions of anyone for anything.