[News] US lawyers report on Israeli crimes in Gaza
Anti-Imperialist News
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Tue Feb 10 11:35:45 EST 2009
US lawyers report on Israeli crimes in Gaza
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10292.shtml
Report, National Lawyers Guild, 10 February 2009
We are a delegation of eight American lawyers, members of the
National Lawyers Guild (NLG) 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 United States domestic law has been violated
as a consequence. We spent 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
and schools which Israeli tanks or warplanes then shelled. Israeli
forces continued to shoot at civilians fleeing the targeted structures.
We spoke to Khaled Abed Rabu, who witnessed an Israeli soldier
execute his two-year-old and seven-year-old daughters, and critically
injure a third daughter, Samar, four years old, on a sunny afternoon
outside his home. Two other Israeli soldiers were standing nearby
eating chips and chocolates at the time on 7 January 2009. Abed Rabu
recounts standing in front of the Israeli soldiers with his mother,
wife and daughters for five to seven minutes before one of the
soldiers opened fire on his family.
We spoke to Ibtisam al-Samouni, 31, and a resident of al-Zeitoun
neighborhood in Gaza City. On 4 January, the Israeli army forced
approximately 110 of al-Zeitoun's residents into Ibtisam's home. At
approximately 7am on 5 January, 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, seven, was
injured in the shelling and remained in the home among his deceased
siblings for four days before Israeli forces permitted medical
personnel into al-Zeitoun 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 Khozaa,
Khan Younis. Israeli forces ordered her neighborhood's 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 12 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 the UN agency for Palestine refugees (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
3 January 2009, killing the watch guard on duty. According to Ribhi
Salem, the school's director, the Israelis gave no warnings. 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.
UNRWA
John Ging, the Director of Gaza Operations for UNRWA, reported that
Israeli forces fired missiles at UNRWA schools in Gaza City, Jabalyia
and Beit Lahiya. The United Nations compound in Gaza City was also
hit with white phosphorous shells and missiles. Ging noted that all
UN buildings and vehicles 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 flachettes. We have found
our own evidence of the use of flachette 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 were at 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:
Al-Zeitoun neighborhood, which came under attack and invasion by
ground forces on 3 January 2009. The Palestine Red Crescent Society
received 145 calls from al-Zeitoun for help, but were denied entry by
Israel. Bashar Ahmed Murad, Director of Emergency Medical Services
for the Palestine 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 7 January,
Israeli forces only gave them a three hour "lull" to work and
prohibited ambulances into the area. Instead they forced paramedics
park the ambulances two 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 three 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 17 January 2009 when the
Israeli army pulled out.
Shurrab family
On 16 January, Israeli forces shot at the jeep of Mohammed Shurrab,
64 years old, and two of his sons, Kassab and Ibrahim, aged 28 and
18, as they were returning from their fields. Mohammed 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 he was ordered out of the car. Mohammed, bleeding from
his wound, contacted the media, the International Committee of the
Red Cross, and a number of non-governmental organizations via mobile
phone in order to acquire medical assistance. Israeli forces denied
medical relief agencies clearance to reach them until almost 24 hours
after Mohammed, 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 Palestine 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 27 December 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), Noura Erekat (Washington DC), James Marc Leas (Vermont), Linda
Mansour (Ohio), Rose Mishaan (California), Thomas Nelson (Oregon),
Radhika Sainath (California) and Reem Salahi (California).
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863-9977
www.Freedomarchives.org
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