Israel troops admit Gaza abuses
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- Written by BBC News BBC News
- Published: 19 March 2009 19 March 2009
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An Israeli military college has printed damning soldiers' accounts of the killing of civilians and vandalism during recent operations in Gaza.
One account tells of a sniper killing a mother and children at close range whom troops had told to leave their home.
Another speaker at the seminar described what he saw as the "cold blooded murder" of a Palestinian woman.
The army has defended its conduct during the Gaza offensive but said it would investigate the testimonies.
The Israeli army has said it will investigate the soldiers' accounts.
The testimonies were published by the military academy at Oranim College. Graduates of the academy, who had served in Gaza, were speaking to new recruits at a seminar.
“ The climate in general [was that] lives of Palestinians are much, much less important than the lives of our soldiers ”
Soldier testimony
"[The testimonies] conveyed an atmosphere in which one feels entitled to use unrestricted force against Palestinians," academy director Dany Zamir told public radio.
Heavy civilian casualties during the three-week operation which ended in the blockaded coastal strip on 18 January provoked an international outcry.
Correspondents say the testimonies, if proved credible, undermine Israel's claims that troops took care to protect non-combatants and accusations that Hamas militants were responsible for putting civilians into harm's way.
'Less important'
The Palestinian woman and two of her children were allegedly shot after they misunderstood instructions about which way to walk having been ordered out of their home by troops.
"The climate in general... I don't know how to describe it.... the lives of Palestinians, let's say, are much, much less important than the lives of our soldiers," an infantry squad leader is quoted saying.
In another cited case, a commander ordered troops to kill an elderly woman walking on a road, even though she was easily identifiable and clearly not a threat.
Testimonies, which were given by combat pilots and infantry soldiers, also included allegations of unnecessary destruction of Palestinian property.
"We would throw everything out of the windows to make room and order. Everything... Refrigerators, plates, furniture. The order was to throw all of the house's contents outside," a soldier said.
One non-commissioned officer related at the seminar that an old woman crossing a main road was shot by soldiers.
"I don't know whether she was suspicious, not suspicious, I don't know her story… I do know that my officer sent people to the roof in order to take her out… It was cold-blooded murder," he said.
The transcript of the session for the college's Yitzhak Rabin pre-military course, which was held last month, appeared in a newsletter published by the academy.
Israeli human rights groups have criticised the military for failing to properly investigate violations of the laws of war in Gaza despite plenty of evidence of possible war crimes.
'Moral army'
The soldiers' testimonies also reportedly told of an unusually high intervention by military and non-military rabbis, who circulated pamphlets describing the war in religious terminology.
"All the articles had one clear message," one soldier said. "We are the people of Israel, we arrived in the country almost by miracle, now we need to fight to uproot the gentiles who interfere with re-conquering the Holy Land."
"Many soldiers' feelings were that this was a war of religion," he added.
Defence Minister Ehud Barak told Israel Radio that the findings would be examined seriously.
"I still say we have the most moral army in the world. Of course there may be exceptions but I have absolutely no doubt this will be inspected on a case-by-case basis," he said.
Medical authorities say more than 1,300 Palestinians were killed during Israel's 22-day operation, including some 440 children, 110 women, and dozens of elderly people.
The stated aim was to curb rocket and mortar fire by militants from Gaza. Thirteen Israelis, including three civilians were killed.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/7952603.stm
Published: 2009/03/19 13:34:26 GMT
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IDF in Gaza: Killing civilians, vandalism, and lax rules of engagement
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- Written by Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
- Published: 19 March 2009 19 March 2009
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The soldiers are graduates of the Yitzhak Rabin pre-military preparatory course at Oranim Academic College in Tivon. Some of their statements made on Feb. 13 will appear Thursday and Friday in Haaretz. Dozens of graduates of the course who took part in the discussion fought in the Gaza operation.
The speakers included combat pilots and infantry soldiers. Their testimony runs counter to the Israel Defense Forces' claims that Israeli troops observed a high level of moral behavior during the operation. The session's transcript was published this week in the newsletter for the course's graduates.
The testimonies include a description by an infantry squad leader of an incident where an IDF sharpshooter mistakenly shot a Palestinian mother and her two children. "There was a house with a family inside .... We put them in a room. Later we left the house and another platoon entered it, and a few days after that there was an order to release the family. They had set up positions upstairs. There was a sniper position on the roof," the soldier said.
"The platoon commander let the family go and told them to go to the right. One mother and her two children didn't understand and went to the left, but they forgot to tell the sharpshooter on the roof they had let them go and it was okay, and he should hold his fire and he ... he did what he was supposed to, like he was following his orders."
According to the squad leader: "The sharpshooter saw a woman and children approaching him, closer than the lines he was told no one should pass. He shot them straight away. In any case, what happened is that in the end he killed them.
"I don't think he felt too bad about it, because after all, as far as he was concerned, he did his job according to the orders he was given. And the atmosphere in general, from what I understood from most of my men who I talked to ... I don't know how to describe it .... The lives of Palestinians, let's say, is something very, very less important than the lives of our soldiers. So as far as they are concerned they can justify it that way," he said.
Another squad leader from the same brigade told of an incident where the company commander ordered that an elderly Palestinian woman be shot and killed; she was walking on a road about 100 meters from a house the company had commandeered.
The squad leader said he argued with his commander over the permissive rules of engagement that allowed the clearing out of houses by shooting without warning the residents beforehand. After the orders were changed, the squad leader's soldiers complained that "we should kill everyone there [in the center of Gaza]. Everyone there is a terrorist."
The squad leader said: "You do not get the impression from the officers that there is any logic to it, but they won't say anything. To write 'death to the Arabs' on the walls, to take family pictures and spit on them, just because you can. I think this is the main thing: To understand how much the IDF has fallen in the realm of ethics, really. It's what I'll remember the most."
More soldiers' testimonies will be published in Haaretz over the coming days.
Israeli troops shot 'unarmed Palestinian civilians under orders' during Gaza war
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- Written by Rory McCarthy, Jerusalem Rory McCarthy, Jerusalem
- Published: 19 March 2009 19 March 2009
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Published soldiers' testimonies contradict official version of events and reinforce Palestinian accounts of disproportionate force
Striking testimony has emerged from Israeli soldiers involved in the Gaza war in which they describe shooting unarmed civilians, sometimes under orders from their officers.
One soldier described how an Israeli sniper shot dead a Palestinian mother and her two children, adding that fellow troops believed the lives of Palestinians were "very, very less important than the lives of our soldiers".
The testimony, published in the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz today, gives a rare insight into how Israeli soldiers fought the war on the ground; reinforces Palestinian accounts of disproportionate Israeli force; and sharply contradicts the Israeli military's official version of events.
The accounts come from unnamed soldiers who were graduates of a pre-military course at Oranim Academic College in Tivon and who spoke in a session in mid-February. The transcript of the session was published this week and obtained by Ha'aretz.
In that transcript, one infantry squad leader said: "There was a house with a family inside … We put them in a room. Later we left the house and another platoon entered it, and a few days after that there was an order to release the family. They had set up positions upstairs. There was a sniper position on the roof.
"The platoon commander let the family go and told them to go to the right. One mother and her two children didn't understand and went to the left, but they forgot to tell the sharpshooter on the roof they had let them go and it was OK, and he should hold his fire and he ... he did what he was supposed to, like he was following his orders. The sharpshooter saw a woman and children approaching him, closer than the lines he was told no one should pass. He shot them straight away. In any case, what happened is that in the end he killed them."
Read more: Israeli troops shot 'unarmed Palestinian civilians under orders' during Gaza war
Security forces use tear-gas canisters as weapons
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- Written by B’Tselem B’Tselem
- Published: 18 March 2009 18 March 2009
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B’Tselem today requested the judge advocate general, Brig. Gen. Avichai Mandelblit, to immediately clarify to security forces in the Occupied Territories that it is absolutely forbidden to aim tear-gas canisters, including extended-range type canisters, directly at demonstrators in the West Bank. Firing of this kind has already resulted in injury, some very serious, to dozens of Palestinians and Israeli and foreign citizens. B’Tselem also called on the JAG to conduct a thorough and effective investigation into the cases in which there is a suspicion that this prohibition has been breached, and bring the persons responsible to justice for their misdeeds, including the officers who gave the orders or turned a blind eye to the illegal firing.
On 13 March, a Border Police officer fired an extended-range type tear-gas canister that struck Tristan Anderson, an American citizen, during a demonstration in Ni’lin. B’Tselem’s investigation reveals that the police officer fired the canister directly at Anderson from sixty meters away, even though Anderson did not throw stones and did not endanger the police officers. The grenade struck him in the forehead, fracturing his skull, and injuring the front lobe of his brain. It is still too early to determine the extent of the damage.
This is one more case in which security forces have fired tear-gas canisters directly at demonstrators, injuring them. In recent weeks, B’Tselem has requested law-enforcement agencies to investigate three such cases, one involving a thirteen-year-old boy. B’Tselem has extensive video footage of police officers and soldiers firing tear-gas canisters directly at demonstrators.
In response to the injury to Anderson, the IDF Spokesperson informed Ha’aretz that, “Based on the inquiry made in the field after the incident, the use of the means to disperse demonstrations was in accordance with the procedures.” This response is surprising, given that testimonies of security forces of which B’Tselem is aware indicate that orders for the use of teargas launchers prohibit shooting directly at the target.
In its letter, B’Tselem emphasized that tear gas is intended to be non-lethal. Firing of such canisters at a short distance, directly at a person, turns the tear-gas canister itself into kind of missile. Extended-range type tear-gas canisters, recently brought into use in the West Bank, are even more dangerous, as move at very high speed and are heavier, and thus cause much greater injury.
Therefore, permitting the firing of tear-gas grenades directly at persons, whether by express command or by turning a blind eye, endangers human life and transmits a message of disrespect for the lives and bodily integrity of Palestinians and other demonstrators.
Soldiers carrying out policing actions must do everything they can to prevent injury to civilians. For this reason, it is forbidden to fire at civilians, unless the soldiers are in real, imminent, life-threatening danger, and where other means to cope with the danger do not exist.
US military may escalate 'war on terror' by striking deeper into Pakistan
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- Written by Saeed Shah in Islamabad Saeed Shah in Islamabad
- Published: 18 March 2009 18 March 2009
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US military may escalate 'war on terror' by striking deeper into Pakistan
Foreign ministry warns against 'counterproductive' air strikes and commando raids
* Saeed Shah in Islamabad
* guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 18 March 2009 15.31 GMT
* http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/18/us-pakistan-terror-air-strikes
The Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Baluchistan
The Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Baluchistan. Photograph: Declan Walsh
Washington is considering expanding its controversial policy of missile strikes and commando raids deeper inside Pakistan, according to reports this morning.
In what would be a major escalation of the "war on terror", the New York Times reported that the US may push its firepower into Pakistan's vast, economically backward, Baluchistan province.
Washington has so far targeted militants based in Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal areas, which run along Afghanistan's eastern border. Baluchistan, however, is a "settled" region and considered a regular part of the country. However, the province, and especially its capital, Quetta, has long been considered the home of the Afghan Taliban and an important sanctuary for al-Qaida.
This morning's reports drew a sharp reaction inside Pakistan.
"The United States would be pouring petrol on the 'war on terror' by these methods," said Munawar Hassan, secretary general of Jamaat-i-Islami, the biggest mainstream religious party. "The United States has no message of peace for the world, they can only talk through arms and armaments."
Pakistan has opposed the use of US missile strikes in its tribal area, which have killed some leading al-Qaida commanders but also led to the death of innocent civilians. Islamabad complains that the attacks, from unmanned "drone" aircraft operated by the CIA, are a flagrant breach of Pakistani sovereignty.
"As we have been saying all along, we believe such attacks are counterproductive," said Abdul Basit, the spokesman for Pakistan's foreign ministry, responding to this morning's reports. "They involve collateral damage and they are not helpful in our efforts to win hearts and minds."
The exclusive western focus on the tribal area, which is a hotbed for militants, has meant that the Afghan Taliban leadership, and its al-Qaida allies, have been able to direct the insurgency in Afghanistan unmolested from Baluchistan. But expanding operations to Baluchistan risks creating more volunteers for the Taliban and raising the internal pressure on the Pakistani government, which has struggled to contain anger over US attacks in the tribal area.
In September last year, American forces conducted their first known ground raid within Pakistan, in the tribal area, causing uproar. If Taliban and al-Qaida extremists are in Quetta itself or other urban areas, missile strikes may not be feasible, so American boots on Pakistani soil would be required.
The Pakistani authorities, already under pressure from a domestic insurgency, have been reluctant to stir up further trouble by tackling extremists in Baluchistan, which runs along Afghanistan's eastern border. According to Kabul, the Taliban founder, Mullah Omar, lives in Quetta. Northern Baluchistan is populated by Pashtuns, the same ethnicity that is the biggest group in Afghanistan and makes up most of the Taliban.
Critics have suggested that Pakistan is using Baluchistan to secretly back the Taliban in Afghanistan, as it sees the regime of Hamid Karzai in Kabul as dangerously close to arch-foe India – a claim denied by Islamabad. Pakistan's army nurtured the rise of the Taliban, who swept to power in Afghanistan in the mid-90s. However, after 9/11, Islamabad allied itself with the west, which resulted in the creation of a Pakistani Taliban, opposed to their own government.