Beelzebub
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- May 6, 2014
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Israelâs Gaza probe aims to stymie war crimes trials #GazaAftermath Experts fear army investigation will be a whitewash but is designed to block Palestinian threat of going to International Criminal Court
For five days during Israelâs recent assault on Gaza, 16-year old Ahmad Abu-Raida says he was held by Israeli soldiers as a human shield. Repeatedly beaten by the unit that seized him, the youngster describes being forced at gunpoint to enter deserted homes, which could have been booby-trapped, to search for Hamas tunnels.
Ahmad, who was separated from his family by Israeli soldiers after they invaded the town of Khuzaâa in the southern Gaza Strip on 23 July, testified that soldiers âwere walking behind me, with their rifles pointed at me. âGet in and see if there are tunnels or not,â [the captain] ordered me. ⌠Whenever I told them there were no tunnels, they would take me out and search the room themselves."
Ahmadâs account, taken by Defence for Children International, is one of five allegations of criminal conduct that the Israeli army announced last week it would be investigating. More than 99 incidents have so far been highlighted by Israelâs military attorney general.
Taking Ahmad as a hostage and using him as a human shield would constitute a grave violation of the Geneva Conventions, the rules of war intended to protect non-combatants.
It would also violate a 2005 decision by Israelâs highest court, outlawing what had until then appeared to be a routine practice, known as the âneighbour procedure,â used by the Israeli army.
Deaths made headlines
Ahmadâs experiences and several other suspected war crimes being investigated by the Israeli military made headlines in the international media during and immediately after the seven weeks of fighting. That has added to the pressure on Israel to be seen to be taking the allegations seriously.
The other cases under investigation are:
* An Israeli air force missile strike on a beach on 18 July that killed four children playing football, an incident widely reported because it occurred in full view of journalists staying in a nearby hotel.
* An Israeli strike on a United Nations-run school in Beit Hanoun on 24 July that killed 15 Palestinian civilians sheltering there and wounded scores more.
* The shooting of a woman as she left her home after her exit from a conflict zone had been coordinated with the Israeli army.
* The theft of money by a soldier from a home, reported by his commander.
These incidents cover only a fraction of the more than 2,100 Palestinians killed during 50 days of Israelâs operation in Gaza dubbed âProtective Edge.â Some three-quarters of the dead are reported to be civilians, including more than 500 children.
Another 11,000 were wounded, and more than 100,000 are estimated to be homeless.
The speed with which the armyâs investigations have been launched reflects the new political and legal environment in which Israel finds itself.
Mahmoud Abbas hesitates
Unlike the situation following Israelâs earlier operation, Cast Lead, in winter 2008-09 â when more than 1,400 Palestinians were killed, again a majority of them civilians â the Palestinians now have a status similar to statehood at the United Nations.
That entitles the Palestinian leadership under Mahmoud Abbas to sign the Rome Statute, allowing it to refer Israel to the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague for war crimes investigations.
So far, the indications are that Abbas is actively avoiding such a step, apparently worried that it would lead to severe retaliation from Israel and the United States. Instead, he has sought to use the threat of an ICC application to leverage further peace talks from Israel.
However, Abbas is facing strong pressure from within his own Fatah partyâs ranks, and has been isolated by Hamasâ announcement that it supports joining the ICC, even if it risks coming under scrutiny from the Hague body too.
At the weekend, a group of 15 leading Palestinian lawyers convened to prepare a dossier of Israeli war crimes in Gaza in what they billed as an effort to bring the allegations to the ICC.
Based on previous experience, warn critics, Israelâs own investigations are unlikely to be conducted in good faith. They accuse Israel of âgoing through the motionsâ to fend off efforts by outside bodies, especially the Hague court, to probe events in Gaza.
âThere has to be more than a suspicion that Israel is carrying out these investigations simply to shield its military commanders from legal accountability,â Hala Khoury-Bisharat, an international law professor at Camel Academic College near Haifa, told Middle East Eye.
That is because the ICC would be ineligible to examine war crimes allegations unless it could be shown that Israel had failed to carry out credible investigations itself.
Rival investigations
Israel is facing rival inquiries on several fronts, all of which are likely to reach highly critical conclusions.
More:
Israel s Gaza probe aims to stymie war crimes trials Middle East Eye
This is a damn long process.
I think Abbas should be sacked for collusion with Netanyahu in stopping the application to the ICC. No matter what Israel does to step up the pressure, it does and will do anyhow, so his is a false rationale.
I guess the Zionists are thrilled to be able to delay their conviction for War Crimes a little longer.
And it makes no difference that Hamas may have guilt too. They not only are defenders, but would willingly do prison time, if it is alongside the IDF criminals and Israeli government officials who order atrocities on a daily basis.
But it will come. The world knows Israelis are just a lost tribe of Russian Mafioso.
For five days during Israelâs recent assault on Gaza, 16-year old Ahmad Abu-Raida says he was held by Israeli soldiers as a human shield. Repeatedly beaten by the unit that seized him, the youngster describes being forced at gunpoint to enter deserted homes, which could have been booby-trapped, to search for Hamas tunnels.
Ahmad, who was separated from his family by Israeli soldiers after they invaded the town of Khuzaâa in the southern Gaza Strip on 23 July, testified that soldiers âwere walking behind me, with their rifles pointed at me. âGet in and see if there are tunnels or not,â [the captain] ordered me. ⌠Whenever I told them there were no tunnels, they would take me out and search the room themselves."
Ahmadâs account, taken by Defence for Children International, is one of five allegations of criminal conduct that the Israeli army announced last week it would be investigating. More than 99 incidents have so far been highlighted by Israelâs military attorney general.
Taking Ahmad as a hostage and using him as a human shield would constitute a grave violation of the Geneva Conventions, the rules of war intended to protect non-combatants.
It would also violate a 2005 decision by Israelâs highest court, outlawing what had until then appeared to be a routine practice, known as the âneighbour procedure,â used by the Israeli army.
Deaths made headlines
Ahmadâs experiences and several other suspected war crimes being investigated by the Israeli military made headlines in the international media during and immediately after the seven weeks of fighting. That has added to the pressure on Israel to be seen to be taking the allegations seriously.
The other cases under investigation are:
* An Israeli air force missile strike on a beach on 18 July that killed four children playing football, an incident widely reported because it occurred in full view of journalists staying in a nearby hotel.
* An Israeli strike on a United Nations-run school in Beit Hanoun on 24 July that killed 15 Palestinian civilians sheltering there and wounded scores more.
* The shooting of a woman as she left her home after her exit from a conflict zone had been coordinated with the Israeli army.
* The theft of money by a soldier from a home, reported by his commander.
These incidents cover only a fraction of the more than 2,100 Palestinians killed during 50 days of Israelâs operation in Gaza dubbed âProtective Edge.â Some three-quarters of the dead are reported to be civilians, including more than 500 children.
Another 11,000 were wounded, and more than 100,000 are estimated to be homeless.
The speed with which the armyâs investigations have been launched reflects the new political and legal environment in which Israel finds itself.
Mahmoud Abbas hesitates
Unlike the situation following Israelâs earlier operation, Cast Lead, in winter 2008-09 â when more than 1,400 Palestinians were killed, again a majority of them civilians â the Palestinians now have a status similar to statehood at the United Nations.
That entitles the Palestinian leadership under Mahmoud Abbas to sign the Rome Statute, allowing it to refer Israel to the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague for war crimes investigations.
So far, the indications are that Abbas is actively avoiding such a step, apparently worried that it would lead to severe retaliation from Israel and the United States. Instead, he has sought to use the threat of an ICC application to leverage further peace talks from Israel.
However, Abbas is facing strong pressure from within his own Fatah partyâs ranks, and has been isolated by Hamasâ announcement that it supports joining the ICC, even if it risks coming under scrutiny from the Hague body too.
At the weekend, a group of 15 leading Palestinian lawyers convened to prepare a dossier of Israeli war crimes in Gaza in what they billed as an effort to bring the allegations to the ICC.
Based on previous experience, warn critics, Israelâs own investigations are unlikely to be conducted in good faith. They accuse Israel of âgoing through the motionsâ to fend off efforts by outside bodies, especially the Hague court, to probe events in Gaza.
âThere has to be more than a suspicion that Israel is carrying out these investigations simply to shield its military commanders from legal accountability,â Hala Khoury-Bisharat, an international law professor at Camel Academic College near Haifa, told Middle East Eye.
That is because the ICC would be ineligible to examine war crimes allegations unless it could be shown that Israel had failed to carry out credible investigations itself.
Rival investigations
Israel is facing rival inquiries on several fronts, all of which are likely to reach highly critical conclusions.
More:
Israel s Gaza probe aims to stymie war crimes trials Middle East Eye
This is a damn long process.
I think Abbas should be sacked for collusion with Netanyahu in stopping the application to the ICC. No matter what Israel does to step up the pressure, it does and will do anyhow, so his is a false rationale.
I guess the Zionists are thrilled to be able to delay their conviction for War Crimes a little longer.
And it makes no difference that Hamas may have guilt too. They not only are defenders, but would willingly do prison time, if it is alongside the IDF criminals and Israeli government officials who order atrocities on a daily basis.
But it will come. The world knows Israelis are just a lost tribe of Russian Mafioso.
