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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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January 22nd,
2009 - Names of Commanders To Be Kept Secret as Weapons Inquiry Begins |
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Names of Commanders To Be Kept
Secret as Gaza Weapons Inquiry Begins By James Hider The Times January 22, 2009 The Israeli army has started
an investigation into the use of white phosphorus shells in densely populated
areas of the Gaza Strip during its offensive against Hamas militants. After initially denying
reports - first published in The Times on January 5 - that the weapon had
been deployed in the Gaza campaign, the military has now all but admitted its
use. White phosphorus is legal if
fired as a battlefield smokescreen but it is banned in civilian areas, where
its use could constitute a war crime. The inquiry came as the army
decided not to divulge the names of the battalion commanders who oversaw the
battle in the overcrowded slums and cities of Gaza for fear that they could
face arrest and prosecution for war crimes if they travelled abroad. The army appointed an
artillery officer, Colonel Shai Alkalai, to investigate a reserve paratroop
brigade accused of firing the munitions - which are similar to napalm in their
impact on the human body - into crowded civilian areas in Beit Lahiya,
northern Gaza. The United Nations agency
responsible for looking after Palestinian refugees has released photographs
of what appears to be white phosphorus raining down on a UN school in Beit
Lahiya on January 17. The pictures show terrified Palestinians fleeing from
burning lumps of the material, which can burn through skin to the bone.
Paramedics sprint away from the incandescent core of the explosion as it
engulfs a Red Crescent ambulance, before they return with stretchers to
evacuate the victims. At least two children were killed and fourteen people
suffered severe burns in the attack, according to medical officials. Ban Ki Moon, the UN
Secretary-General, who visited the still smouldering UN facilities on
Tuesday, called the strikes totally unacceptable and demanded “accountability
through a proper judiciary system”. While initially issuing an
outright denial on the use of white phosphorus, Major-General Amir Eshel, the
army’s head of strategic planning, has since said that firing shells as a
smoke screen was legal and had been done by Britain and the US. “It is the
most nonlethal kind of weapon we used. I don’t see any issue with that,” he
said. Amnesty International, which
has investigators in Gaza, said that it had found indisputable evidence that
white phosphorus was used by Israeli forces in densely populated areas. “We saw streets and
alleyways littered with evidence of the use of white phosphorus, including
still-burn-ing wedges and the remnants of the shells and canisters fired by
the Israeli army,” said Christopher Cobb-Smith, a weapons expert and member
of the factfinding team in Gaza. “White phosphorus is highly
incendiary air-burst, and its spread effect is such that it should never be
used on civilian areas.” The Israeli army inquiry is
focusing on which type of phosphorus shells were used in the attacks on Beit
Lahiya. The army said that it used two types of the ordnance, which can be
used to detonate booby traps. The 155mm artillery shell
contains little phosphorus, military sources said. The other type is the 81mm
or 120mm mortar round that is dense with the element. Around 200 of these
were fired in Operation Cast Lead and the inquiry will look into about twenty
that were allegedly fired at civilian areas, although the paratroop officers
said that they fired only at identified hostile targets. The 120mm shells have come
under scrutiny for their computerized targeting systems which led to a strike
on a refugee shelter, in which 42 Palestinians were killed.With evidence of
possible war crimes growing, the Israeli army has decided not to divulge the
names of battalion and brigade commanders who took part in the battle. Ehud Barak, the Defence
Minister and architect of the offensive, ordered the army to establish an
incrimination team of intelligence and legal experts to examine any evidence
that could be used against Israeli officials in law suits. That could
possibly include Ma-jor-General Yoav Galant, the chief of Israel’s southern
command, as well as other senior officers. One of his predecessors,
Major-General Doron Almog, was warned during a visit to London in 2005 not to
leave his aircraft at Heathrow after a tip-off that British police were
waiting to arrest him for his orders to destroy Palestinian homes in southern
Gaza. There is also growing
domestic pressure for an investigation into the military’s conduct in the
war, which led to about 1,300 Palestinian deaths, many of them civilians.
Eight human rights organisations have appealed to the Attorney-General to set
up an independent committee to investigate possible war crimes. A spokeswoman for one of the
groups, B’Tselem, said that an investigation into allegations that some
soldiers shot at people waving white flags, refused to treat wounded people
and fired into civilian buildings, could help court cases abroad. How Israel backtracked January 5 - Israeli military
spokesman: “We categorically deny the use of white phosphorus” January 8 - Major Avital
Leibovich, military spokeswoman: “This is what we call a quiet shell: it is
empty, it has no explosives and no white phosphorus. There is nothing inside
it. We shoot it to mark the target before we launch a real shell. “We launch
two or three of the quiet shells which are empty so that the real shells will
be accurate. It’s not for killing people” January 14 - Gabi Ashkenazi,
the Israel Defence Forces chief of staff: “The IDF acts only in accordance
with what is permitted by international law and does not use white
phosphorus” January 21 - Major-General
Amir Eshel, the army’s head of strategic planning: “It is the most nonlethal
kind of weapon we used. I don't see any issue with that” Source: The Times External link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5563082.ece |