Soldiers speak of unjustified shooting of civilians; rights groups seek probe of ‘abuses’
AP 20 March 2009
JERUSALEM: Israeli soldiers have described wanton killings of Palestinian civilians and destruction of property during the deadly, 22-day Gaza war, according to a journal published yesterday.
One soldier spoke of an Israeli sharpshooter killing a Palestinian mother and her two children as they left their home, according to the journal of the Yitzhak Rabin pre-military academy. The publication, quoting graduates of the college, also cited the case of an elderly Palestinian woman killed as she was walking 100m from her home.
Soldiers spoke too of civilians being abused, acts of vandalism and destruction of homes.
‘Those were very harsh testimonies about unjustified shooting of civilians and destruction of property that conveyed an atmosphere in which one feels entitled to use unrestricted force against Palestinians,’ academy director Dany Zamir told public radio.
He said military officers were surprised by the findings he relayed to them. The army said the Military Advocate General has ordered the military police to investigate the claims.
Asked about the report, Defence Minister Ehud Barak told public radio: ‘The Israeli army is the most moral in the world, and I know what I’m talking about because I know what took place in the former Yugoslavia, in Iraq.’
But he added: ‘Of course there may be exceptions, and everything that has been said must be looked into.’
Israel’s Yesh Din human rights group called for an independent inquiry.
‘Until today, about six weeks since the end of military operations in Gaza, not a single criminal investigation has begun despite hundreds of testimonies which raise suspicion about violations of international law and of war crimes,’ it said.
‘The testimonies cast a shadow not just over the specific soldiers who carried out these deeds but also on high-ranking officials who gave the command to open fire.
‘If these orders were given as described in the testimonies, then both the issuing of the orders and their implementation are criminal offences. If Israel does not investigate its own offences, other countries will have to,’ it said.
Public radio’s legal commentator Moshe Hanegbi said the investigation should not be conducted by the military, ‘as it would not be credible at a time when Israel is accused of war crimes and officers could be tried abroad’.
On Monday, a group of the world’s most experienced judges and human rights investigators called for a full international investigation into alleged abuses of international law during the Gaza conflict.
In an open letter supported by Amnesty International, they stressed the need for an investigation into ‘all serious violations of international humanitarian law committed by all parties to the conflict’.
The onslaught on Gaza was launched in late December in response to rocket and mortar fire into Israel by militants in the impoverished territory.
Gaza authorities said more than 1,300 Palestinians were killed in the conflict.
Among the dead were 437 children under the age of 16, 110 women and 123 elderly people, according to Palestinian figures. Thirteen Israelis, three of them civilians, were killed.
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Israelis describe wanton killings
Soldiers speak of unjustified shooting of civilians; rights groups seek probe of ‘abuses’
AP
20 March 2009
JERUSALEM: Israeli soldiers have described wanton killings of Palestinian civilians and destruction of property during the deadly, 22-day Gaza war, according to a journal published yesterday.
One soldier spoke of an Israeli sharpshooter killing a Palestinian mother and her two children as they left their home, according to the journal of the Yitzhak Rabin pre-military academy. The publication, quoting graduates of the college, also cited the case of an elderly Palestinian woman killed as she was walking 100m from her home.
Soldiers spoke too of civilians being abused, acts of vandalism and destruction of homes.
‘Those were very harsh testimonies about unjustified shooting of civilians and destruction of property that conveyed an atmosphere in which one feels entitled to use unrestricted force against Palestinians,’ academy director Dany Zamir told public radio.
He said military officers were surprised by the findings he relayed to them. The army said the Military Advocate General has ordered the military police to investigate the claims.
Asked about the report, Defence Minister Ehud Barak told public radio: ‘The Israeli army is the most moral in the world, and I know what I’m talking about because I know what took place in the former Yugoslavia, in Iraq.’
But he added: ‘Of course there may be exceptions, and everything that has been said must be looked into.’
Israel’s Yesh Din human rights group called for an independent inquiry.
‘Until today, about six weeks since the end of military operations in Gaza, not a single criminal investigation has begun despite hundreds of testimonies which raise suspicion about violations of international law and of war crimes,’ it said.
‘The testimonies cast a shadow not just over the specific soldiers who carried out these deeds but also on high-ranking officials who gave the command to open fire.
‘If these orders were given as described in the testimonies, then both the issuing of the orders and their implementation are criminal offences. If Israel does not investigate its own offences, other countries will have to,’ it said.
Public radio’s legal commentator Moshe Hanegbi said the investigation should not be conducted by the military, ‘as it would not be credible at a time when Israel is accused of war crimes and officers could be tried abroad’.
On Monday, a group of the world’s most experienced judges and human rights investigators called for a full international investigation into alleged abuses of international law during the Gaza conflict.
In an open letter supported by Amnesty International, they stressed the need for an investigation into ‘all serious violations of international humanitarian law committed by all parties to the conflict’.
The onslaught on Gaza was launched in late December in response to rocket and mortar fire into Israel by militants in the impoverished territory.
Gaza authorities said more than 1,300 Palestinians were killed in the conflict.
Among the dead were 437 children under the age of 16, 110 women and 123 elderly people, according to Palestinian figures. Thirteen Israelis, three of them civilians, were killed.
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