Focus on Gaza - White Phosphorous

In this week's show we hear how Human Rights Watch accuses Israel of war crimes for it's unlawful use of white phosphorous. Mike Kirsch a town in the US where white phosphorous is manufactured and shows locals the true human cost of the weapon.

Survivors of the war in Gaza take legal action and we meet a mother burnt by white phosphorous who tells her story.

UK to Israel: War crimes law unchangeable now

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 07:48:06 GMT In 2005, Doron Almog managed to avoid arrest in Britain by remaining on board a plane at Heathrow airport The British government says it cannot change for now a law that allows for the arrest of Israel's visiting authorities over war crimes. In an unofficial message to Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Britain said that due to Israel's public image in the country following its massive strike against the Gaza Strip, London believes it will be unable to pass an amendment to the legislation before next year's elections, Haaretz reported. The Israeli offensive, namely Operation Cast Lead, triggered a wave of outrage worldwide as it left more than 1,434 Palestinians, including 960 civilians, killed and thousands more injured. Suspected use of forbidden ammunitions, such as white phosphorus and depleted uranium, testimonies by Israeli officers on racist and religious motifs among their comrades, and UN reports of wanton killings of civilians raised protests to Israeli war crimes and 'even crimes against humanity' during the 23-day-long onslaught. Under British law, UK citizens can press war crime charges against foreigners, who could be arrested upon entry into Britain once an indictment has been issued. In 2005, Maj. Gen. Doron Almog flew to London but decided not to leave the plane when he was informed British police were waiting to arrest him. An arrest warrant had been issued against him for his role in the controversial demolition of Palestinian homes in Rafah. Almog remained on the aircraft and returned to Israel but his case has caused senior Israeli army officers in both active and reserve service, including former chiefs of staff and cabinet ministers (Ehud Barak and Shaul Mofaz), to avoid traveling to Britain ever since. Britain's government, first under former premier Tony Blair and recently under his successor Gordon Brown, had promised to pass changes in the legislation so that private citizens would first have to obtain the approval of the chief prosecutor to be able to press war crimes charges. While Israeli diplomats are seeking support for such an amendment from Conservative lawmakers, Israel's Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor on Saturday urged London to find a way to fulfill its promise. But the British Foreign Office described the measure as "a complex legal issue". MRS/DT http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=89321&sectionid=351020202

Gaza family tells of Israeli shooting & Israeli soldiers say killing of civilians 'allowed'

Gaza family tells of Israeli shooting

A family in Zeitoun in the north of the Gaza Strip have come forward to tell how Israeli snipers shot at them as they were marshalled from a building during the war on Gaza. Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel-Hamid has their story.

Israeli soldiers say killing civilians 'allowed'

Israel's army is accused of war crimes after more than 1,300 Palestinians were killed in the war on Gaza. In interviews published by a leading Israeli newspaper, Israeli soldiers say killing Palestinian civilians and destroying their homes was allowed in Israel’s rules of engagement during the war. Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros reports from Jerusalem.

UN: Gaza assault was 'inhumane'

UN: Gaza assault was 'inhumane'

Israel disputes Falk's allegations and says Hamas used civilians as human shields [EPA] The United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories has said Israel's military offensive on Gaza "would seem to constitute a war crime of the greatest magnitude under international law". Richard Falk called the 22-day bombardment a "massive assault on a densely populated urbanised setting", with the civilian population subjected to "an inhumane form of warfare that kills, maims and inflicts mental harm". His findings were written in a report submitted to the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday. Islamic and African countries backed by China, Cuba and Russia have a majority in the 47-member forum. Neither Israel nor US, its principal ally, are members. Falk said the Geneva Convention required forces at war to be able to distinguish between military targets and civilians. If that is not possible, then "launching the attacks is inherently unlawful". Israel launched its offensive on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip in December saying it aimed to stop rocket fire by Hamas into southern Israel. A ceasefire was declared on January 18 after the offensive left about 1,400 Palestinians dead, many of them women and children. Three Israeli civilians and 10 soldiers were killed during the offensive. Blockade 'a crime' Falk said that the Gaza border blockade also was not legally justified and may represent a "crime against peace", a principle established at the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals. In video Gaza family tells of Israeli shooting Israeli soldiers say killing civilians 'allowed' Sealing the border, denying people the right to flee the war zone as refugees, may also be a crime against humanity, his report said. He said Israel's violations included alleged "targeting of schools, mosques and ambulances" during the offensive, and its use of weapons including white phosphorus. He also condemned the firing of rockets at civilian targets in southern Israel by Hamas. Falk called for an independent experts group to investigate possible war crimes committed by both the Israeli military and Hamas. He recommended witness testimonies as well as explanations from Israeli and Palestinian military commanders. Falk gave the same death toll from Israel's offensive in December and January - 1,434 Palestinians, 960 of those civilians - as the Palestinian Human Rights Centre. Israel disputes the figures and accuses Hamas fighters in Gaza of using civilians as human shields. Falk said Israel's allegation should be investigated. Israeli rejection Daniel Seaman, a spokesman for the Israeli government, rejected Falk's assertions, saying that his report contained no truth or legitimacy. "The soldiers, questioned by our military authorities, are saying these [in the report] are not first-person eyewitness accounts ... these are stories they heard second hand," Seaman said. He said every military in the world "at times makes mistakes". Israel said its offensive was to halt Hamas rocket fire into southern Israel [EPA] But "if we find our soldiers violated the code of conduct [in war], they will be dealt with, with the utmost severity of our laws", Seaman said. "We do not need a Richard Falk, who is notorious for his anti-Israeli position, to tell us how to conduct ourselves." Falk said the UN Security Council might set up an ad hoc tribunal to establish accountability for war crimes in Gaza, noting Israel has not signed the Rome statutes establishing the International Criminal Court. He was refused entry into Israel two weeks before the offensive started, preventing him from a planned mission to Gaza. In the report, he said the refusal had set an "unfortunate precedent" for treatment of a special rapporteur. Speaking to Al Jazeera from Santa Barbara, California, Falk said he is not optimistic that his report will lead to concrete action. "There is a lack of political will on the part of several major governments," he said. "There has all along been a pervasive double standard with respect to the implementation of international criminal law. "It has been applied to non-Western countries in the south and has exempted actors associated with Europe, North America and, generally, the north." Rules of engagement Falk's criticism came as reports surfaced in the Israeli media suggesting that Israeli forces killed Palestinian civilians under what may have been lax rules of engagement during the Gaza offensive. Quoting Israeli soldiers who fought in the offensive, the Haaretz newspaper reported on Thursday that soldiers had ransacked and destroyed civilian property. The soldiers' testimony, made at a course at Oranim Academic College in Tivon, runs counter to the Israeli army's claims that troops observed a high level of moral behaviour during the operation. The testimonies include a description by an infantry squad leader in which he relates an incident where an Israeli sharpshooter shot a Palestinian mother and her two children, Haaretz reported. If proved, the soldiers' testimonies could contribute to war crimes charges against Israel. Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid, reporting from Gaza, said that there was no doubt in the minds of Gazans that Israel committed war crimes during the assault. "There is a certain level of satisfaction that these stories are coming out and that a body like the UN is saying the same things that they are saying," she said.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Soldier says rabbis pushed "religious war" in Gaza

Fri Mar 20, 2009 10:54am EDT

 

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Rabbis in the Israeli army told battlefield troops in January's Gaza offensive they were fighting a "religious war" against gentiles, according to one army commander's account published Friday.
"Their message was very clear: we are the Jewish people, we came to this land by a miracle, God brought us back to this land and now we need to fight to expel the gentiles who are interfering with our conquest of this holy land," he said.
The account by Ram, a pseudonym to shield the soldier's identity, was published by the left-leaning Haaretz newspaper in the second day of revelations that have rocked the Israeli military. (www.haaretz.com "Shooting and Crying, 2009").
They were leaked from a Feb 13 meeting of armed forces members to share their Gaza experiences.
Some veterans, alumni of an Israel Defense Force (IDF) military academy, told of the killing of civilians and their impression that deep contempt for Palestinians pervaded the ranks of the Israeli forces.
Haaretz and the daily Maariv, which also published the accounts, quoted over half a dozen soldiers and airmen. The institution's director, Danny Zamir, confirmed that Thursday's published accounts were authentic.
In longer excerpts in its Friday "Week's End" edition, the daily quoted 'Ram' as saying his impression of the 22-day operation was "the feeling of an almost religious mission."
There was a "huge gap between what the Education Corps sent out and what the IDF rabbinate sent out," he said. The corps's pamphlets told the history of Israel's fighting in Gaza from 1948 to the present, but the rabbinate's message imparted the sense that "this operation was a religious war."
The rabbinate of the IDF provides religious services, including overseeing preparation of kosher food, providing prayerbooks and prayer sessions and religious counseling to any soldier wants to participate. Involvement is not obligatory.
RELIGION IN THE MILITARY
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) has put the Palestinian death toll during the war at 1,417 -- 926 civilians, 236 fighters and 255 police officers. Israeli officials have disputed those figures. Thirteen Israelis were killed.
Israel faced global criticism over its assaults in densely populated areas of Gaza in the campaign, launched with the declared aim of ending rocket attacks from Hamas and other Islamist militant groups in Gaza aimed at its southern towns.
Hamas clerics have often called for "Zionist" blood to be spilled. The Islamists carried out dozens of suicide bombings in Israel before and during a Palestinian uprising that erupted in 2000, blowing up buses and cafes.
The Jewish state tries to balance the needs of its non-observant majority with religious tradition. While the military does not provide data on the disposition of personnel, observers report a disproportionately high number of soldiers and officers wearing skullcaps -- a symbol of Jewish faith.
One week after the Gaza offensive ended on January18 Israeli human rights group Yesh Din called on Defense Minister Ehud Barak to dismiss the chief chaplain, Rabbi Avichai Rontzki, who holds the rank of brigadier general.
It said he had distributed a booklet to soldiers fighting in the Gaza conflict quoting an ultra-nationalist Israeli rabbi as saying that showing mercy toward a "cruel enemy" was "terribly immoral" and advising soldiers they were fighting "murderers."
Barak responded to the IDF revelations Thursday by repeating Israel's description of its armed forces as the most moral in the world. The IDF said its judge advocate-general had ordered an investigation.
(Additional reporting by Dan Williams)
(Writing by Douglas Hamilton; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

Gaza war crime claims gather pace as more troops speak out

Fresh allegations have come to light that gung-ho leadership inculcated a culture of disregard for Palestinian casualties

• Peter Beaumont
• The Observer, Sunday 22 March 2009
• Article history

Israeli soldiers stand together at a military staging area before moving towards the northern Gaza Strip. Photograph: Baz Ratner/Reuters

An investigation by a group of former Israeli soldiers has uncovered new evidence of the military's conduct during the assault on Gaza two months ago. According to the group Breaking the Silence, the witness statements of the 15 soldiers who have come forward to describe their concerns over Operation Cast Lead appear to corroborate claims of random killings and vandalism carried out during the operation made by a separate group of anonymous servicemen during a seminar at a military college.
Although Breaking the Silence's report is not due to be published for several months, the testimony it has received already suggests widespread abuses stemming from orders originating with the Israeli military chain of command.
"This is not a military that we recognise," said Mikhael Manekin, one of the former soldiers involved with the group. "This is in a different category to things we have seen before. We have spoken to a lot of different people who served in different places in Gaza, including officers. We are not talking about some units being more aggressive than others, but underlying policy. So much so that we are talking to soldiers who said that they were having to restrain the orders given."
Manekin described how soldiers had reported their units being specifically warned by officers not to discuss what they had seen and done in Gaza.
The outlines of the evidence gathered comes hard on the heels of the disclosure by the Oranim Academy's pre-military course last week of devastating witness accounts supplied by soldiers involved in the fighting, including the "unjustified" shooting of civilians.
The claims appear to add credence to widespread claims of Israeli soldiers firing on civilians, made by Palestinians to journalists and international investigators and lawyers who entered Gaza at the end of the conflict and in its aftermath.
With Israeli newspapers threatening new disclosures, the New York Times has weighed in with an interview with a reservist describing the rules of engagement for the Gaza operation. Amir Marmor, a 33-year-old military reservist, told the newspaper that he was stunned to discover the way civilian casualties were discussed in training talks before his tank unit entered Gaza in January.
"Shoot and don't worry about the consequences" was the message from commanders, said Marmor. Describing the behaviour of a lieutenant-colonel who briefed the troops, Marmor added: "His whole demeanour was extremely gung-ho. This is very, very different from my usual experience. I have been doing reserve duty for 12 years, and it was always an issue how to avoid causing civilian injuries. He said that in this operation, we are not taking any chances. Morality aside, we have to do our job. We will cry about it later."
These are not the first allegations of war crimes levelled at the Israeli military. Last Thursday, the special rapporteur to the UN Human Rights Council, Richard Falk, said that the assault on Gaza appeared to be a "war crime of the greatest magnitude" and called on the UN to establish an experts' group to investigate potential violations.
Attempts by the Israeli media to publish the rules of engagement for the Gaza campaign have been blocked by the military censor, but in the past couple of weeks the contents of those rules have begun to to emerge in anecdotal evidence - suggesting strongly that soldiers were told to avoid Israeli casualties at all costs by means of the massive use of firepower in a densely populated urban environment.
Worrying new questions have also been raised about the culture of the Israeli military, indicating a high level of dehumanisation and disregard for Palestinians among the chain of command and even among the military rabbinate.
An investigation by reporter Uri Blau, published on Friday in Haaretz, disclosed how Israeli soldiers were ordering T-shirts to mark the end of operations, featuring grotesque images including dead babies, mothers weeping by their children's graves, a gun aimed at a child and bombed-out mosques.
Another T-shirt designed for infantry snipers bears the inscription "Better use Durex" next to a picture of a dead Palestinian baby, with his weeping mother and a teddy bear beside him. A shirt designed for the Givati Brigade's Shaked battalion depicts a pregnant Palestinian woman with a bull's-eye superimposed on her belly, with the slogan, in English, "1 shot, 2 kills".
The claims have sparked a bitter debate within Israel's defence forces and wider society over the "morality" of the IDF and its behaviour in Gaza.
Since the first claims appeared, other Israeli media have run articles criticising the head of the military academy who revealed the soldiers' testimony, while others have run interviews with soldiers denying that the IDF had been involved in any wrong-doing and questioning the motives of those who had come forward.
"I don't believe there were soldiers who were looking to kill [Palestinians] for no reason," 21-year-old Givati Brigade soldier Assaf Danziger was quoted by Yedioth Aharonot. "What happened there was not enjoyable for anyone; we wanted it to end as soon as possible and tried to avoid contact with innocent civilians."

Israel violated humanitarian law in Gaza – Israeli lawyer

22 March, 2009, 10:10

Although Israel had the right to use force in Gaza, it had no right to target civilians, believes Michael Sfrad, Israeli expert in international human rights and humanitarian law.

How many human right laws have been violated in the recent Palestinian-Israeli war? Michael Sfrad has spoken to RT’s Paula Slier about the sensitive issue.
RT: The Israeli army and most Israelis do not believe that they committed war crimes in Gaza. Why do you think they did?

MS: Most criminals do not think they commit crimes. For me there is no doubt that the Israeli defense forces have gravely violated international humanitarian law. They have violated the very fundamental principles of humanitarian law. Let's not forget that one of the major principles of humanitarian law is the principle of distinction which lays down that combatants must always distinguish between enemy combatants and enemy civilians and must always direct their weapons towards the combatants. Israel has targeted illegitimate targets. It decided that governmental officers, the Islamic university are all legitimate targets.

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It has also violated the second most important principle of humanitarian law and that is the principle of proportionality. They have bombarded from the air the most densely populated civilian area in the world. We knew that it would cause massive injury and death.
RT: If we unpack what you are saying, the first principle – the principle of distinction. The Israelis have argued that it was Hamas's fault so many civilians were killed, that Hamas was using the civilian population as human shields. How do you respond to this kind of argument?
MS: Well the fact that one party violates international humanitarian law does not let the other party violate international law. Yes, if it's true, it must be investigated. These are allegations that I've never seen any proof for – but if it's true and Hamas militants had been hiding in the civilian population and waging their war from there then probably if targeted while engaging in combat then it was a legal attack by the Israeli defense forces if it operated according to principles of proportionality.

Michael Sfrad

However what Israel was doing in this war was by no means only responding to attacks. Israel has targeted certain targets that were not in the course of fighting. Israel has never explained why it targeted the type of facilities that I’ve mentioned. Like governmental officers, the Palestinian parliament, these were not installations from which war was being waged but installations from where Hamas was operating – the government buildings, the police buildings – they were all part of the war effort.
War is a use of force and international relations and international law. You are not allowed – according to international law – to go to war because you dislike the government. Maybe the Israeli government does not like the Hamas government but also that the Hamas government might be a government of criminals. Still, that does not allow Israel to go to war unilaterally, without a decision by the Security Council, without the backing of international community.
RT: You talk about self-defense. But is not it self-defense for Israel after eight years after being fired at to then launch this operation in Gaza?
MS: I have no doubt that Israel has the right to use force. That's not the question. The question is what kind of force and what kind of ammunition and which targets to choose.
RT: Do you think Israel used illegal weapons?
MS: I think it did, but I do not have the evidence, I have press reports, I have testimonies that were collected by human rights organizations in Gaza from the victims, and I have my understanding of how the Israeli army operates. But that's not enough in order to be sure that it did happen or it didn't.
RT: You talk about distinction but the Israeli army was very particular in what it struck. It only struck certain buildings. A lot of Gaza in fact was not damaged at all by Israeli military efforts.
MS: I challenge the Israeli army to allow an investigation. If it's true that the Israeli army was following international law and I am wrong the fact is that up till now the Israeli army and the government of the state of Israel are not allowing a professional independent external investigation to be launched.
RT: Why do you believe that?
MS: Because they have something to hide, because they don't want anyone outside the Israeli army apparatus to look into the deeds of the army and I believe that this is in itself a violation of international law.

RT: You spoke earlier about proportionality. But Israelis would argue that it's not their fault that Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas of the world and people had nowhere to run to.
MS: That is the fault of the Israeli army. The fact that there were no ways to go. Was it that difficult to create a humanitarian corridor which will allow civilians who do not wish to be in the war area, war zone? OK, we did not choose the war zone, but we could have let the ones who wanted to flee go away.
RT: Was that responsibility of Israel? Or was that responsibility of the international community?
MS: Absolutely the responsibility of the state of Israel. We have control over all the borders of Gaza, the air, the sea and the land boarders. We could have opened a gate.
RT: But how do you tell the difference between civilians and Hamas fighters?
MS: The fact that civilians are Hamas supporters means nothing in the eyes of the law. People can choose to believe in evil things, they cannot be punished for that. And the fact is that in Israel’s eyes the whole civilian population was an enemy. It seems to me something horrendous that it was a strategy for the Israeli government and Israeli army to put a pressure on the civilian population.
RT: Put pressure on the civilian population to do what?
MS: The brilliant logic behind the strategy is that if you put enough pressure on the civilian population, they will in their turn, put pressure on the Hamas.
RT: Has the opposite not happened?
MS: Of course it did. We need another generation, another 30 years to reconcile with Palestinians because of that war. Children who saw Israeli soldiers and Israeli helicopters will not forget that.
RT: How much of this war was motivated by internal Israeli politics?

MS: I think a lot of it. I don't think in a fairly democratic society that is wrong. The fact that the Israeli government was under extreme pressure to do something about the attacks on Israeli south, it's part of democracy. The way the war was waged was influenced by the politicians’ desire to have a zero casualties on our side.
RT: Are you calling for an investigation of the Palestinians to see if Hamas committed war crimes?
MS: Definitely. I'm not a Palestinian and I leave it for the Palestinians to do their own internal reflections. But as a lawyer who deals with international law and as a human rights activist definitely I think the Hamas has a lot to answer for. Hamas leaders must be investigated and tried for their deeds.
RT: Who do you think should be held accountable for war crimes? Is it the Israeli army or the soldiers themselves? It seems unfair to hold soldiers responsible in a country where there's conscription and at the moment we have the situation in Europe where many army officers cannot fly out of Israel, cannot land in these countries because they're wanted by international courts.
MS: International criminal law is about individual responsibility. If Israel as a country or the Israeli army as a legal entity is valid internationally, it might be responsible in international law for operations and for all kinds of civil remedies but criminal law is all about personal responsibility. The fact that war criminals must bear the responsibility for their deeds is a part of the attempt to educate individuals around the world. You cannot hide behind the fact that you're a part of a big apparatus that committed war crimes. You cannot hide behind the idea that you've just obeyed commands which the Israeli and Jewish airs, this is something that makes me shiver.
RT: You personally refused to serve and as a result you spent three weeks in prison. Are you surprised that not more Israeli soldiers refused to serve now in Gaza?
MS: I'm surprised and not surprised. I'm surprised because I thought more Israelis will be listening more to their internal moral voice. I'm not surprised because I know my country and I know what kind of education people go through since kindergarten and how slowly feelings and emotions that are racist in their essence, are creeping into everyone of us.
RT: Do you think the courts in Israel are doing enough to hold soldiers and Israeli army?
MS: The Israeli law enforcing mechanism is not doing even 1 per cent of what it should be doing regarding violations of the humanitarian law. Nor in Gaza, neither in the West Bank. The prosecution is not prosecuting, and when it does, it does with a lot of problems, so the message is very clear – there's impunity.

Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it and eventually they will believe it

Gazan children psychologically damaged after war

Aid agencies say the psychological effects of the Israeli offensive on Gaza have been heavy, particularly on children.

Al Jazeera's Jonah Hull talks to one nine year old boy about his experiences and how he is dealing with them now

Israel 'evicts Jerusalem families'

More than 1,500 people could be left homeless by the threatened demolitions [AFP] More than 1,500 Palestinians living in East Jerusalem could be made homeless after Israel told them their homes are illegal and are to be demolished. "The owners of 80 houses in the al-Bustan neighbourhood have received eviction notices saying that the structures will be destroyed because they are illegal," Hatem Abdel Kader, an official responsible for Jerusalem affairs in the Palestinian government, said. Kader said that several of the houses served with demolition orders had been built before the 1967 war, when Israel captured east Jerusalem from Jordan, but that numerous extensions have been built since. "The [Jerusalem] municipality used this as a pretext to issue the demolition orders despite appeals by the residents," he said. No comment was immediately available from the city authorities. Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital and has annexed the Arab east of the city, but under international law east Jerusalem is considered to be occupied and has not been recognised by world powers as the Israeli capital. According to B'Tselem, the Israeli human rights organisation, Israeli authorities have demolished about 350 houses in east Jerusalem since 2004, saying that they were built without permits.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Thousands of Gazans remain homeless

Report, The Electronic Intifada, 18 February 2009

Azza Abed Rabu with her neice and four-year-old daughter, who sustained serious head wounds during the family's evacuation. She and her family are now living in a tent in the Abed Rabu area of Jabaliya. (Erica Silverman/IRIN)

GAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IRIN) - Thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip remain homeless after their houses were badly damaged or destroyed during Israel's recent military offensive there.

The Israeli army began with aerial bombardments of the enclave on 27 December and added a ground assault from 3 January. Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire on 18 January while Hamas, the de facto ruling authority in the Strip, declared its own ceasefire later that day.

According to a 16 February report by Save the Children Alliance "at least 100,000 people, including 56,000 children, remain displaced with many continuing to take shelter in tents or crowding into remaining homes with other families, one month since the Gaza ceasefire was declared."

The non-governmental organization estimated that some 500,000 people, including 280,000 children, were forced from their homes at some point during the conflict and added that "tent cities" had sprung up where whole neighborhoods were destroyed. Many tent residents are without access to clean drinking water and toilets, it said.

The tents are small and offer no protection from the low temperatures at night, which can reach below 7-8 degrees Celsius, according to Save the Children UK's chief executive Jasmine Whitbread, speaking from Gaza on 16 February. She said that some camps of up to 40 families share one or two toilets between them, posing health risks.

Most of the tents have been provided by the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), UNICEF and other international and local aid organizations.

UNRWA said it had distributed emergency food parcels and non-food items, such as mattresses and blankets, to tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza who had been affected by the conflict. This was in addition to UNRWA's regular food distribution to 900,000 refugees in the Strip.

Tented communities

According to UNRWA, tented communities have been set up in densely populated areas that came under fire by Israeli tanks. These are the northern areas of Jabaliya and Beit Lahiya, the Zeitoun area in south Gaza City, Rafah on the southern border with Egypt and around Netzarim, a former Israeli settlement, where Israeli forces constructed a temporary military base during their operation.

Hundreds of tents stand in the Abed Rabu area of Jabaliya.

"Over the past two weeks we have distributed relief to 310 individuals who completely lost their homes and to 310 whose homes were damaged," said Fadi (he declined to give his family name), a volunteer with Islamic Foundation, a local NGO that supports Hamas, as he put emergency water and food supplies into packs in a tent.

The parcels contained soap, potatoes, flour, milk and a protein supplement provided by the Hamas government. The Red Crescent delivered the water supplies and UNRWA the blankets and mattresses, Fadi said.

"The Israeli troops bulldozed my home to enter the area with tanks," said Azza Abed Rabu, 27, while clutching her four-year-old daughter, who she said sustained serious head wounds during the family's evacuation. "We have narrow streets; they [Israeli forces] were searching for tunnels beneath the homes."

Thirty Abed Rabu family members are sheltering in two tents.

At least 4,000 homes were destroyed and about 17,000 badly damaged, according to a recent UN Gaza flash appeal, while 50,000 residents took shelter in UNRWA facilities during the height of the conflict and tens of thousands took refuge with family and friends.

A UNDP-led survey of damaged and destroyed housing throughout Gaza conducted immediately following the ceasefire found the greatest destruction in the two northern governorates of north Gaza, where 1,436 houses were completely destroyed, and Gaza governorate, where 752 houses were completely destroyed.

UNRWA estimates that an average of $4,000 will be needed to repair each housing unit.

As of 5 February, the Gaza health ministry said the Palestinian death toll from the three-week conflict had reached 1,440, including 431 children and 114 women. Some 5,380 were injured, including 1,872 children and 800 women, according to the ministry.

This item comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. All IRIN material may be reposted or reprinted free-of-charge; refer to the copyright page for conditions of use. IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Hamas maintained cease-fire June - November 2008

Former Israel foreign minister gets his facts wrong about Hamas rocket attacks and is stopped by the news presenter Emily Reuben with a "fact sheet" given by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and created by the Intelligence & Terrorism Information Center at the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center, (IICC), which is routinely cited on the Israeli government websites.

Reflections of War

On December 27, 2008, Israel's already crippling siege on the neighbouring Gaza Strip escalated into a brutal war. Al Jazeera was the only global news network reporting from both inside Gaza and Israel for the entirity of the conflict. Throughout Ayman Mohyeldin and Sherine Tadros brought news of the human tragedy unfolding to living rooms throughout the English speaking world. They found themselves as vulnerable as the civilians of Gaza and now they give their full accounts of what it was really like to report that war.

The Wounds of Gaza

From the Lancet (Medical Journal)

February 2nd 2009

The Wounds of Gaza

Two Surgeons from the UK, Dr Ghassan Abu Sittah and Dr Swee Ang, managed to get into Gaza during the Israeli invasion. Here they describe their experiences, share their views, and conclude that the people of Gaza are extremely vulnerable and defenseless in the event of another attack.

The wounds of Gaza are deep and multi-layered. Are we talking about the Khan Younis massacre of 5,000 in 1956 or the execution of 35,000 prisoners of war by Israel in 1967? Yet more wounds of the First Intifada, when civil disobedience by an occupied people against the occupiers resulted in massive wounded and hundreds dead? We also cannot discount the 5,420 wounded in southern Gaza alone since 2000. Hence what we are referring to below are only that of the invasion as of 27 December 2008,

Over the period of 27 December 2008 to the ceasefire of 18 Jan 2009, it was estimated that a million and a half tons of explosives were dropped on Gaza Strip. Gaza is 25 miles by 5 miles and home to 1.5 million people. This makes it the most crowded area in the whole world. Prior to this Gaza has been completely blockaded and starved for 50 days. In fact since the Palestinian election Gaza has been under total or partial blockade for several years.

On the first day of the invasion, 250 persons were killed. Every single police station in Gaza was bombed killing large numbers of police officers. Having wiped out the police force attention was turned to non government targets. Gaza was bombed from the air by F16 and Apache helicopters, shelled from the sea by Israeli gunboats and from the land by tank artillery. Many schools were reduced to rubble, including the American School of Gaza, 40 mosques, hospitals, UN buildings, and of course 21,000 homes, 4,000 of which were demolished completely. It is estimated that 100,000 people are now homeless.

Israeli weapons
The weapons used apart from conventional bombs and high explosives also include unconventional weapons of which at least 4 categories could be identified.

• Phosphorus Shells and bombs

The bombs dropped were described by eye witnesses as exploding at high altitude scattering a large canopy of phosphorus bomblets which cover a large area.

During the land invasion, eyewitnesses describe the tanks shelling into homes first with a conventional shell. Once the walls are destroyed, a second shell - a phosphorus shell is then shot into the homes. Used in this manner the phosphorus explodes and burns the families and the homes. Many charred bodies were found among burning phosphorus particles.

One area of concern is the phosphorus seems to be in a special stabilizing agent. This results in the phosphorus being more stable and not completely burning out. Residues still cover the fields, playground and compounds. They ignite when picked up by curious kids, or produce fumes when farmers return to water their fields. One returning farming family on watering their field met with clouds of fumes producing epistaxis. Thus the phosphorus residues probably treated with a stabilizer also act as anti-personnel weapons against children and make the return to normal life difficult without certain hazards.

Surgeons from hospitals are also reporting cases where after primary laparotomy for relatively small wounds with minimal contamination find on second look laparotomy increasing areas of tissue necrosis at about 3 days. Patients then become gravely ill and by about 10 days those patients needing a third relook encounter massive liver necrosis. This may or may not be accompanied by generalized bleeding , kidney failure and heart failure and death. Although acidosis, liver necrosis and sudden cardiac arrest due to hypocalcemia are known to be a complication of white phosphorus it is not possible to attribute these complications as being due to phosphorus alone.

There is real urgency to analyze and identify the real nature of this modified phosphorus as to its long term effect on the people of Gaza. There is also urgency in collecting and disposing of the phosphorus residues littering the entire Gaza Strip. As they give off toxic fumes when coming into contact with water, once the rain falls the whole area would be polluted with acid phosphorus fumes. Children should be warned not to handle and play with these phosphorus residues.

• Heavy Bombs

The use of DIME (dense inert material explosives) were evident, though it is unsure whether depleted uranium were used in the south. In the civilian areas, surviving patients were found to have limbs truncated by DIME, since the stumps apart from being characteristically cut off in guillotine fashion also fail to bleed. Bomb casing and shrapnel are extremely heavy.

• Fuel Air Explosives

Bunker busters and implosion bombs have been used . There are buildings especially the 8 storey Science and Technology Building of the Islamic University of Gaza which had been reduced to a pile of rubble no higher than 5-6 feet.

• Silent Bombs

People in Gaza described a silent bomb which is extremely destructive. The bomb arrives as a silent projectile at most with a whistling sound and creates a large area where all objects and living things are vaporized with minimal trace. We are unable to fit this into conventional weapons but the possibility of new particle weapons being tested should be suspected.

• Executions

Survivors describe Israeli tanks arriving in front of homes asking residents to come out. Children, old people and women would come forward and as they were lined up they were just fired on and killed. Families have lost tens of their members through such executions. The deliberate targeting of unarmed children and women is well documented by human right groups in the Gaza Strip over the past month.

• Targeting of ambulances

Thirteen ambulances had been fired upon killing drivers and first aid personnel in the process of rescue and evacuation of the wounded.

• Cluster bombs

The first patients wounded by cluster were brought into Abu Yusef Najjar Hospital. Since more than 50% of the tunnels have been destroyed, Gaza has lost part of her lifeline. These tunnels contrary to popular belief are not for weapons, though small light weapons could have been smuggled through them. However they are the main stay of food and fuel for Gaza. Palestinians are beginning to tunnel again. However it became clear that cluster bombs were dropped on to the Rafah border and the first was accidentally set of by tunneling. Five burns patients were brought in after setting off a booby trap kind of device.

Death toll
As of 25 January 2009, the death toll was estimated at 1,350 with the numbers increasing daily. This is due to the severely wounded continuing to die in hospitals. 60% of those killed were children.

Severe injuries
The severely injured numbered 5,450, with 40% being children. These are mainly large burns and polytrauma patients. Single limb fractures and walking wounded are not included in these figures.

Through our conversations with doctors and nurses the word holocaust and catastrophe were repeatedly used. The medical staff all bear the psychological trauma of the past month living though the situation and dealing with mass casualties which swamped their casualties and operating rooms. Many patients died in the Accident and Emergency Department while awaiting treatment. In a district hospital, the orthopaedic surgeon carried out 13 external fixations in less than a day.

It is estimated that of the severely injured, 1,600 will suffer permanently disabilities. These include amputations, spinal cord injuries, head injuries, large burns with crippling contractures.

Special factors
The death and injury toll is especially high in this recent assault due to several factors:

• No escape: As Gaza is sealed by Israeli troops, no one can escape the bombardment and the land invasion. There is simply no escape. Even within the Gaza Strip itself, movement from north to south is impossible as Israeli tanks had cut the northern half of Gaza from the south. Compare this with the situation in Lebanon 1982 and 2006, when it was possible for people to escape from an area of heavy bombardment to an area of relative calm - there was no such is option for Gaza.
• Gaza is very densely populated. It is eerie to see that the bombs used by Israel have been precision bombs. They have a hundred percent hit rate on buildings which are crowded with people. Examples are the central market, police stations. Schools, the UN compounds used as a safety shelter from bombardment, mosques (40 of them destroyed), and the homes of families who thought they were safe as there were no combatants in them and high rise flats where a single implosion bomb would destroy multiple families. This pattern of consistent targeting of civilians makes one suspect that the military targets are but collateral damage, while civilians are the primary targets.
• The quantity and quality of the ammunition being used as described above.
• Gaza’s lack of defense against the modern weapons of Israel. She has no tanks, no planes, no anti-aircraft missiles against the invading army. We experienced that first hand in a minor clash of Israeli tank shells versus Palestinian AK47 return fire. The forces were simply unmatched.
• Absence of well constructed bomb shelters for civilians. Unfortunately these will also be no match for bunker busters possessed by the Israeli Army.

Conclusion
Taking the above points into consideration, the next assault on Gaza would be just as disastrous. The people of Gaza are extremely vulnerable and defenseless in the event of another attack. If the International Community is serious about preventing such a large scale of deaths and injuries in the future, it will have to develop a some sort of defense force for Gaza. Otherwise, many more vulnerable civilans will continue to die.

Dr Ghassan Abu Sittah and Dr Swee Ang

Chronic shortages in Gaza fuels black market

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While the gates remain closed, much needed aid is piling up on the Israeli side of the border. Inside the Strip, one million Gazans rely on food hand-outs to survive. But they're also desperate f...

While the gates remain closed, much needed aid is piling up on the Israeli side of the border.

Inside the Strip, one million Gazans rely on food hand-outs to survive.

But they're also desperate for other every day items - and it's leading to a thriving black market.

Al Jazeera's Mike Kirsch reports from Gaza city.

Report from Gaza by US National Lawyers Guild Delegation

Report from Gaza by US National Lawyers Guild Delegation

February 11, 2009 at 11:48 am · Filed under Uncategorized

February 9, 2009
http://www.counterpunch.org/nlg02092009.html
A Report from Gaza
Strong Indications of Israeli War Crimes By NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD
Gaza City.
We are a delegation of 8 American lawyers, members of the National Lawyers Guild in the United States, who have come here to the Gaza Strip to assess the effects of the recent attacks on the people, and to determine what, if any, violations of international law occurred and whether U.S. domestic law has been violated as a consequence. We have spent the last five days interviewing communities particularly impacted by the recent Israeli offensive, including medical personnel, humanitarian aid workers and United Nations representatives. In particular, the delegation examined three issues: 1) targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure; 2) illegal use of weapons and 3) blocking of medical and humanitarian assistance to civilians.
Targeting of Civilians and Civilian Infrastructure
Much of the debate surrounding Israel’s aerial and ground offensive against Gaza has centered on whether or not Israel observed principles of proportionality and distinction. The debate suggests that Israel targeted Hamas i.e., its military installations, its leaders, and its militants, and in the process of its discrete military exercise it inadvertently killed Palestinian civilians. While we have found evidence that Palestinian civilians were victims of excessive force and collateral damage, we have also found troubling instances of Palestinian civilians being targets themselves.
The delegation recorded numerous accounts of Israeli soldiers shooting civilians, including women, children, and the elderly, in the head, chest, and stomach. Another common narrative described Israeli forces rounding civilians into a single location i.e., homes, schools which Israeli tanks or warplanes then shelled. Israeli forces continued to shoot at civilians fleeing the targeted structures.
We spoke to Khaled Abed Rabbo, who witnessed an Israeli soldier execute his 2-year-old and 7-year-old daughters, and critically injure a third daughter, Samar, 4-years old, on a sunny afternoon outside his home. Two other Israeli soldiers were standing nearby eating chips and chocolates at the time on January 7, 2009. Abed Rabbo recounts standing in front of the Israeli soldiers with his mother, wife and daughters for 5 – 7 minutes before one of the soldiers opened fire on his family.
We spoke to Ibtisam al-Sammouni, 31, and a resident of Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City. On January 4th, the Israeli army forced approximately 110 of Zaytoun’s residents into Ibtisam’s home. At approximately 7 am on January 5th, the Israeli military launched two tank shells at the house without warning killing two of Ibtisam’s children: Rizka, 14 and Faris, 12. When the survivors attempted to flee Israeli forces shot at them. Her son Abdullah, 7, was injured in the shelling and remained in the home among his deceased siblings for four days before Israeli forces permitted medical personnel into Zaytoun to rescue them. After medical personnel removed the injured persons, an Israeli war plane destroyed the house and it crumbled over the lifeless bodies. The dead remained beneath the rubble for 17 days before the Israeli Army permitted medical personnel to remove their bodies for burial.
We spoke to the family of Rouhiya al-Najjar, 47, who lived in Khoza’a, Khan Younis. Israeli forces ordered her neighborhoods residents to march to the city center. Rouhiya led 20 women out of her home and into the alley. They all carried white scarves. Upon entering the alley, an Israeli sniper shot Rouhiya in her left temple killing her instantly. Israeli forces prevented medical personnel from reaching her body for twelve hours. These are only some of the accounts that we’ve collected.
Israeli forces also destroyed numerous buildings throughout the Gaza Strip during the recent incursion. Guild delegates viewed the remains of hundreds of demolished homes and businesses – in addition to the remains of the American School in Gaza, damaged medical centers, and the charred innards of UNRWA warehouses. While in situations of armed conflict, collateral damage and mistakes can occur, the circumstances surrounding the cases that the delegation investigated indicate deliberate targeting rather than collateral damage or mistake. Specifically:
The American School at Gaza, which was hit with two F-16 missiles on January 3, 2009, killing the watch guard on duty. According to Ribhi Salem, the school’s director, the Israelis gave no warnings. Mr. Salem stated that the school had come to an agreement with resistance groups not to use school grounds and there had never been resistance activity on the property.
United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)
John Ging, the Director of Gaza Operations for UNRWA reported that Israeli forces fired missiles at UNRWA schools in Gaza City, Jabalyia and Bet Lahiya. The United Nation compound in Gaza city was also hit with white phosphorous shells and missiles. Ging noted that al United Nations buildings and vehicles all fly UN flags, are marked in blue paint from the top, and that during hostilities the UN personnel remained in constant contact with Israeli authorities.
Misuse of Weapons
Our delegation has heard allegations of the use of DIME (Dense Inert Metal Explosive) weaponry, white phosphorus and other possible weapons whose use in civilian areas is prohibited. We have also heard of the use of prohibited weapons, such as fleshettes. We have found our own evidence of the use of fleschette shells, which we will combine with evidence collected by Amnesty International to push for further investigation. We have not found any conclusive evidence of the use of DIME, though we believe that this warrants further investigation and disclosure by the Israeli military.
Our findings overwhelmingly point to the use of conventional weapons in a prohibited manner, specifically, the use of battlefield weaponry in densely populated civilian areas. Customary international law forbids the use of weapons calculated to cause unnecessary suffering. We found evidence that Israel used white phosphorus in extensively throughout its three-week offensive in a manner that led to numerous deaths and injuries. For example, Sabah Abu Halima, 45, lived in Beit Lahiya with her husband, seven boys, and one girl. It was midday and she and her entire family was home. Within minutes she felt her home shaking and missiles fell through the rooftop. She fell to the ground upon impact. When she looked up she saw her children burning.
Preventing Access to Medical and Humanitarian Aid
Under customary international humanitarian law, the wounded are protected persons and must receive the medical care and attention required by their conditions, to the fullest extent practicable and with the least possible delay. Parties to a conflict are required to ensure the unhindered movement of medical personnel and ambulances to carry out their duties and of wounded persons to access medical care. Speaking to medical workers and the family of victims, NLG delegates documented serious violations of this provision. Among the stories documented include:
Zaytoun neighborhood, which came under attack and invasion by ground foces on January 3, 2009. The Palestinian Red Crescent received 145 calls from Zaytoun for help, but were denied entry by Israel. Bashar Ahmed Murad, Director of Emergency Medical Services for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society told us that “a lot of people could have been saved, but hey weren’t given medical care by the Israelis, nor did the Israeli army allow Palestinian medical services in.” When paramedics were finally allowed to enter on January 7, Israeli forces only gave them a 3-hour “lull” to work and prohibited ambulances into the area. Instead they forced paramedics park the ambulances 2 kilometers away and enter the area on foot. Murad told delegation members how they had to pile the wounded on donkey carts and have the medical workers pull the carts in order to help the most people possible in the short time they were given. After the 3 hours were over, the Israeli army started shooting toward the ambulances. The Red Crescent was not able to reach that area again to evacuate the dead until January 17, 2009 when the Israeli army pulled out.
Al-Shurrab Family
On January 16th, Israeli forces shot at the jeep of Mohammed Shurrab, 64 years of age, and two of his sons, Kassab and Ibrahim, aged 28 and 18 as they were returning from their fields. Mohammad was shot in the left arm and Ibrahim was shot in the leg. The elder son, Kassab, sustained a fatal bullet wound to the chest, being shot multiple times after being ordered out of the car. Mohammad, bleeding from his wound, contacted the media, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and a number of NGOs via mobile phone in order to acquire medical assistance. Israeli forces denied medical relief agencies clearance to reach them until almost 24 hours after Mohammad, Ibrahim and Kassab had been shot. Earlier that morning, Ibrahim had succumbed to his wound and died. Mohammad Shurrab and his sons were shot during a so-called “lull” in Israeli ground operations, which Israeli forces had agreed to in order to allow humanitarian relief to enter and be distributed in the Gaza Strip. As such NLG delegates fail to see how this denial of medical access to the wounded Shurrab family could have been absolutely necessary and not simply arbitrary.
International humanitarian law also prohibits attacks on medical personnel, medical units and medical transports exclusively assigned to carry out medical functions. Delegate members saw ambulances seriously damaged and destroyed, some apparently deliberately crushed by Israeli tanks. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society and the Palestinian Ministry of Health informed delegates that 15 Palestinian medics were killed and 21 injured in the course of Israel’s assault.
Conclusions
This delegation is seriously concerned by our initial findings. We have found strong indications of violations of the laws of war and possible war crimes committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip. We are particularly concerned that most of the weapons that were found used in the December 27 assault on Gaza are US-made and supplied. We believe that Israel’s use of these weapons may constitute a violation of US law, and particularly the Foreign Assistance Act and the US Arms Export Control Act.
A report of our initial findings will be compiled and submitted to, among others, members of the United States Congress. We intend to push for an investigation by the United States government into possible violations by Israel of US law. We also hope to contribute our finding and efforts to other efforts by local and international lawyers to push for accountability against those found responsible for the egregious crimes that we have documented.
MEMBERS OF THE LEGAL DELEGATION
Huwaida Arraf (New York, Washington DC)
huwaida.arraf@gmail.com
Palestine: 0599-130-426
USA: 1-202-294-8813
Noura Erekat (Washington DC)
noo194@yahoo.com
Palestine:
USA: 1-510-847-4239
James Marc Leas (Vermont)
jolly39@gmail.com
Palestine:
USA: 1-802 864-1575 and 1-802 734-8811(cell)
Linda Mansour (Ohio)
Lindamansour@aol.com
Palestine:
USA: 1-419-535-7100 and 1-419-283-8281 (cell)
Rose Mishaan (California)
roseindigo7@gmail.com
Palestine:
USA: 1-917-803-2201
Thomas Nelson (Oregon)
nelson@thnelson.com
Palestine:
USA: 1-503-709-6397
Radhika Sainath (California)
radhika.sainath@gmail.com
Palestine:
USA: 1-917-669-6903
Reem Salahi (California)
reemos@gmail.com
Palestine:
USA: 1-510-225-8880

Israeli army 'used human shields in Gaza war'

While Israel is going to the polls, the story of how their army conducted its war on Gaza is slowly being pieced together.

Two Gaza residents have told al Jazeera that they were used as human shields by the army - a military tactic that is specifically forbidden by Israeli law.

The Israeli army denies the allegations.

Hoda Abdel Hamid reports from Gaza.

Gaza fishermen face daily dangers

Weeks after Israel's war on Gaza, the suffering of people in the Strip has not ended.

Israel maintains a blockade, on land, in the air and at sea. For fishermen in Gaza, making a living has become harder and more dangerous, as Al Jazeera's Mike Kirsch reports.

Gaza: The Case for Middle East Peace - World Economic Forum - Davos

Gaza: The Case for Middle East Peace
The uncertainty and complexity surrounding the crisis in Gaza have captured the attention of the world.

What needs to be done to prevent the Middle East peace process from slipping away yet again?

Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General, United Nations, New York
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey
Amre Moussa, Secretary-General, League of Arab States, Cairo
Shimon Peres, President of Israel

Chaired by
David Ignatius, Associate Editor and Columnist, The Washington Post, USA

Wanted war criminals

Criminal Noam Tivon

Brigadier General Noam Tibon Officer with the IDFFormer military commander in Hebron. Responsible for many murders of Palestinians and destruction of Palestinian property. 1982: Tibon joined the war against Lebanon. In the first week of March, 2001, soldiers under the command of Noam Tivon shot Jadalla Al-Jaabari in a leg in the vegetable market, without provocation and "just for fun". Al-Jaabari was an inoffensive mentally retarded man who was known to the soldiers who shot him. Soldiers under Tivon's command shot Faisal Shaker Al-Hassouna without reason. Two soldiers, one an officer of the Border Police under the officer Jihad Kabalan (a Druze from Beit Jan), dragged him through the streets while the other soldiers celebrated. According to a witness, the IDF soldiers stood on Al-Hassouna until he died of suffocation. Tibon took control in Nablus, and he killed some Palestinians there during

a patrol in the old city

He confiscated thousands of dunums of Palestinian agricultural lands. Tibon lives in Tel Aviv.

Criminal Baruch Nagar

Colnel Baruch Nagar is an extremist member of the right wing party of Likud, Nagar entertains notions of Jewish racial superiority. He lives in Petah Tikva, north-east of Tel Aviv.

was the military governor of the Palestinian city Ramallah from 1991 to 1995. During his time as a governor there he brutally beat four Palestinians; he was “convicted” in one of these cases.

Under the curfews which he imposed as a governor of Hebron, many children died at the checkpoints because the soldiers under his command had orders to not let people in need of medical assistance pass. Fuad Halhal, an officer under the command of Nagar, took part in the massacre of Jenin in March of 2002.
The activity of Baruch Nagar during and after his military assignments constitute clear and direct breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 12.August 1949 and other statutes of international law. As such he is liable to be prosecuted for crimes against humanity and genocide.

Criminal Gadi Shamni

Gadi Shamni was known as "the child hunter" (Sayad al Atfal) among the people of Hebron because of the many children murdered by troops under his command.

In 2003 Gadi was appointed as commander of the Gaza division. He was responsible for the collective punishment of the population of Gaza, for the criminal destruction in the Rafah and Al-Buraig (Bureish) refugee camps, and demolishing Palestinian houses in the city. In one incident during their campaign of ethnical cleansing and demolishing Palestinians houses, Gadi's troops demolished seven houses of poor people who were not involved in any militant clashes in Rafah. Among the ruins, his criminal troops killed a pregnant woman, Noha Makadama, a mother of ten children. Noha was killed in front of her husband and her children.

Criminal Amos Gilad

Amos Gilad is a Zionist war criminal who commanded the murders of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza from 1974 to 1979 as a Chief of the Department of Military Intelligence. His family emigrated from Czechoslovakia to Palestine in 1939 and settled in the Palestinian city of Haifa. General Amos Gilad took part in Genocide against the Palestinians before and after the Intifada. Gilad was one of the Israeli criminals who besieged the Palestinian President Yaser Arafat in Ramallah. He is suspected of having participated in organizing the murder of President Arafat. Gilad lives in Herzliya

Terrorist Shimon Peres

Criminal Shaul Mofaz

Criminal Ehud Olmert

Criminal Tzipi Livni


Criminal Ehud Barak


Criminal Dan Halutz


Criminal Moshe Bogie Yaalon


Criminal Gabi Ashkenazi


Criminal Binyamin Fouad Ben Eliezer



Criminal Amir Peretz

Criminal Carmi Gillon

Criminal Matan Vilnai

Matan Vilnai is currently the Deputy of the Defense Minister. In July 2007, Vilnai was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense.Vilnai said "We will bring Holocaust in Gaza". He described what Israel intends to do to Palestinians in Gaza if they do not stop the firing of the Qassam rockets. He said: 'Palestinians will bring upon themselves a bigger holocaust because we will use all our might to defend ourselves,' says Deputy Defense Minister Vilnai. Vilnai is involved in Gaza's Holocaust 28 February 2008 in which over 126 Palestinian were killed among them Babys, teenagers, children, old men, and wonen. Hundreds were injured seriously during Vilnai's holocaust at Friday midnight on Beit Hanoun Vilnai was born in the occupied Jerusalem in 1944, and he lives now in Mevaseret Zion.Vilnai was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces

in 1966. He served in the Paratroopers Brigade. "Sankhanem".

Criminal Avi Dichter

Criminal Eliezer Shkedy

Criminal Giora Eiland

Criminal Doron Almog

General Doron Almog served as a commander of a Paratroopers Company in the Sinai, and he lead numerous battles against the Egyptian army. During these campaigns he was responsible for the murder of Egyptian war prisoners. In his most recent post as the head of the IDF Southern Command from 2000-2003, he was responsible for thousands of assassinations in the West Bank and Gaza. General Doron Almog ordered the destruction of fifty nine civilian homes in reprisal for the deaths of Israeli soldiers.Almog has overall responsibility for Israeli the operations and all the crimes against the civilians in the Gaza Strip.On September 10, 2005, as he arrived in London, he did not exit the airplane and he was forced to flee Britain, because a British lawyer, Daniel Machover, acting for the human rights organization "Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights" filed a criminal complaint against Almog for crimes against humanity. Almog learned from the Israeli consulate that a warrant had been issued for his arrest for violating the Geneva Conventions in connection with the destruction of homes in Gaza.

WANTED WAR CRIMINALS: USED ILLEGAL WEAPONS IN A WAR AGAINST CHILDREN, WOMEN AND CIVILIANS IN GAZA

Anyone who has information about the suspects when they are outside of the Israeli borders, report immediately to:
The Prosecutor POBox 195192500 Hague Netherlands Fax +31 70 515 8 555

otp.informationdesk@icc-cpi.int

* All calls will be treated in confidence

HELP JUSTICE AND TELL THE WORLD