“Breaking the Silence” publication of Israeli ‘Front Line’ troops testimonies further echoes and corroborates concerns posed by all humans rights organisations working in the war torn enclave of the Gaza Strip. However, despite pro-Israeli counter arguments against the validity and authenticity of some of the testimonies provided, the authors of the report are extremely well respected on the international press and diplomatic circuits. The revelations contained in their report, along with those compiled by Amnesty International, International Red Cross and Human Rights Watch, put further pressure on Israel to answer International ’War Crime’ allegations inflicted upon the Palestinian people during ‘Operation: Cast Lead’.
This non-governmental organisation’s ethos and ‘raison d'être’ is to “demand accountability regarding Israel's military actions in the Occupied territories perpetrated by us and in our name,” As regards financial aid, “Breaking the Silence” receives active funding from such reputable benefactors as; British Embassy in Tel Aviv, Dutch Embassy, the European Union and the New Israel Fund to undertake its investigative work.
Following on from my previous review, “’Breaking the Silence’ on the 22-Day War”, this article will examine the remaining two areas highlighted regarding ‘Operation: Cast Lead’. These two sections take a closer look at the claims of ‘Disproportionate Use of Force’ and the alleged indiscriminate firing of White Phosphorus shells into civilian zones.
Disproportionate Use of Force
Israel has a litany of allegations levelled against them through the years of using disproportionate force when dealing with their Middle East disputes, including;
- Their unprovoked attack on Iraq's Osirak in 1981
- Israel's seven-day bombing campaign of Lebanon in retaliation for Hezbollah rocket attacks (1993)
- The Second Lebanon War/July War (2006)
- Fresh allegations over 22-Day War (2008)
Yet again Israel is facing major allegations by international observers and world leaders for their conduct during the 22-Day War regarding the indiscriminate targeting of civilian areas by Israeli artillery. Current International condemnation is being led by The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
In attempt to stave of this criticism, the IDF command defended their use of excessive retaliatory force in built up civilian areas of Gaza by claiming that Hamas were using such areas (including schools and offices) to launch rocket attacks on their positions and that their troops were merely acting purely in self-defence. However, one soldier’s testimony claims to completely refute the claim that Israeli fire upon Palestinian civilian premises was solely reactionary in defence of their positions.
Q: Were there house demolitions in your area?
A: All the time. Houses were demolished everywhere. You see clearly that these houses had been fired at with tremendous power. We didn’t see a single house that remained intact, beginning with such scenes as you saw photographed – a house totally shattered or a house with a huge hole in it or many bullet hits on it. We didn’t see a single house that was not hit. The entire infrastructure, tracks, fields, roads – was in total ruin. The D-9 had gone over everything, building up the tank positions and preparing the routes. Nothing much was left in our designated area. It looked awful, like in those World War II films where nothing remained. A totally destroyed city. The few houses that were still inhabitable were taken by the army. The less a house was damaged, all the more chances were it would be entered by soldiers to spend the day or night. As I said, there were lots of abandoned, miserable animals.
However, for any observer who is not akin to the technically advanced weaponry at IDF disposal should not be fooled into the misconception that all this pure wanton destruction could be blamed on afew misguided shells should pay close attention to this next extract. It explains the preciseness of a new mortar device (120mm Mortar) used on the Gaza Strip invasion by Israeli forces;
Q: During your week inside the tank position were there still D-9s demolishing houses around and entering neighborhoods across from you?
A: All the time. Definitely. During the week we were there, almost daily, armored infantry would go into a house, this was not D-9s. It was armored infantry since they suspected the houses to be booby-trapped – they blasted the houses. They would open a hole in order to enter the house not through the regular entry door. There were constant blasts, and the D-9s would expand the tank positions and routes. Corps of Engineers was engaged there nonstop, with houses containing no one. It was funny because at some point someone said – I don’t quite remember who, I think our deputy commander or the company commander himself – that our company is supposed to be more active, assigned to do more. So, really, houses were entered where no one was present, and anyway those houses were monitored and I, personally, never saw anyone in there, perhaps the commanders did find a reason to enter them. I didn’t see the reason to enter houses in an empty area where we were monitoring the houses nonstop. Still houses were entered and damage was done to property, for we only saw property, not one person. No obvious reason whatsoever. Perhaps they thought there were weapons inside. I didn’t see any reason for this activity, but it was ongoing, all the time.
The 120mm Mortar (a type of mortar shell fired by the IDF in Gaza) is a relatively new system which Giv'ati does not yet possess.
What was the old one like?
The old one had wheels to turn. It takes half an hour to get a shell out. In the new system the computer does the whole calibration process. I have a map, an aerial photo. A code map. I am given a reference point. I click it into the computer. It's a touch screen. I have a keyboard. I click the reference point. It shows me where it is on the map. I press, the mortar is aimed and my subordinate simply fires.
How accurate is it?
Highly accurate. 95-100%
Deployment of White Phosphorus Munitions
When one interviewee in the “Breaking the Silence” report was asked about firing white phosphorous mortars he recalled;
Why fire phosphorus?
Because it's fun. Cool.
Professionally do you have phosphorus for use against such threats?
I don't know what it's used for. I was just talking about this yesterday. I don't
Understand what it's even doing in our supplies if we're not supposed to use such
ammo. It's ridiculous.
When these allegations were initially put to the IDF command, all that they would divulge is that they could neither confirm nor deny white phosphorous use due to possible conflict with specific military operations. Instead they continuously reiterated that any ammunition at the disposal of their military personnel was “within the scope of international law”. However, given the close civilian confinements of Gaza city, Human Rights Watch repeatedly appealed to Israeli forces to cease using white phosphorus mortar shells in the area. It also transpired that other civilian areas of Gaza were also hit by white phosphorus mortars including;
- Al-Quds hospital in Gaza City (15th Jan ’09),
- Firing of up to 20 phosphorus shells into the heavily built-up area around the Beit Lahiya township of Gaza,
- The main UN compound in Gaza City,
- Deployment of white phosphorus mortars in northern Israel.
Human Rights Watch went on to produce a 71-page report in March of this year to clearly substantiate their initial allegations during the invasion. This report that the IDF "deliberately and recklessly" fired white phosphorus shells into densely populated areas of Gaza in an "indiscriminate" manner that directly resulted in the death and wounding of Palestinian civilians and the actions were tantamount to "evidence of war crimes",
The report also claimed that Israeli military personnel were fully aware of the lethal ability that artillery shells containing this agent could inflict. Furthermore, its deployment in airburst artillery shells revealed a "pattern or policy of conduct rather than incidental or accidental usage."
In addition, Human Rights Watch confirmed that such shells rained down on the Gaza’s UN compound incessantly over a two hour period despite repeated calls by UN staff to Israeli military officials to cease the bombardment. This single attack caused an estimated $10m (£6.8m) of damage whilst the resulting fires burned continuously for 12 days after the attack.
As illustrated, various elements of this entire “Breaking the Silence” report further corroborates allegations of potential 'war crimes' perpetrated by Israeli troops during the 22-Day 'Operation: 'Cast Lead'. Given this ever increasing weight of evidence from a lengthening list of observers, can we really take seriously the public assertions of the Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak that the IDF;
'Is one of the world's most moral armies and operates according to the highest moral code!'
A Translated version of the Full Report is available @ ‘Soldier’s Testimonies From Operation Cast Lead Gaza 2009’
0 comments:
Post a Comment