Kindgo
Advanced Member
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posted
Julie Stahl
Jerusalem Bureau Chief
Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Israel has rejected the conclusions of an international human rights group, which accused Israeli soldiers of violating human rights in its war against terror.
Amnesty International released a report - "Israel and the Occupied Territories: Shielded from Scrutiny - IDF violations in Jenin and Nablus" - on Monday. The report accused Israeli forces of "serious human rights violations" during pitched battles last spring in the West Bank cities of Jenin and Nablus.
The violations allegedly included unlawful killings, torture, ill-treatment of prisoners, wanton destruction of homes, blocking ambulances and denial of humanitarian assistance as well as the use of Palestinian civilians as "human shields."
According to the report, the offences took place during Israel's Operation Defensive Shield, which was launched following the suicide bombing on the eve of Passover at a the Park Hotel in Netanya that left 29 people dead and scores wounded.
"In the four months between 27 February and the end of June 2002 ...the IDF [Israeli army] killed nearly 500 Palestinians. Although many Palestinians died during armed confrontations, many of these IDF killings appeared to be unlawful and more than 70 of the victims were children...
"The number of Israelis killed by Palestinian armed groups and individuals also increased: in the four months up to the end of June more than 250 Israelis were killed, including 164 civilians; 32 of those killed were children," AI said.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Jonathan Peled called the report "one-sided" and said it did not pay attention to the context in which the alleged violations took place.
"Israel rejects the report," Peled said. "It is not only one-sided but it totally ignored the circumstances [that] Israel is in the midst of a terror campaign against her."
The Palestinian "terror campaign is abusing the [Palestinian] civilian population as a shelter for its actions, whether they are using children or ambulances or shooting from heavily populated civilian areas," Peled charged.
"A very disturbing claim [is that] Israel used excessive force in Jenin," he said.
"It was clear to everyone that [Israel put its own] soldiers at high risk to prevent [harm] to the civilian population. Israel could have chosen different measures," he added.
Palestinians accused Israel of having perpetrated a massacre of some 500 innocent Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp when soldiers, tanks and bulldozers stormed the area in April, saying it had become a haven for terrorists.
Israel, which lost 13 soldiers in the house-to-house fighting there, argued that some 50 Palestinians, mostly heavily armed and fighting were killed. A U.N. report later concluded the Palestinian claims to be false.
Israel defended its actions there, saying that had Israel not cared about the civilian population, it could have simply used air power to destroy their targets instead of endangering its own soldiers.
Israel initially prevented ambulances, medical and aid workers from entering the camp, saying that it was too dangerous because the camp and been booby-trapped with explosives by Palestinian terrorists.
Testimonies of Palestinian militants in the camp written in the Arab press also later seemed to bear out Israeli claims that the center of the city had been heavily booby-trapped.
Although AI acknowledged that Israel had a right to "take measures to prevent unlawful violence" it said Israel must not violate international law in doing so.
The report concluded that Israeli forces were responsible for "war crimes" and called on the government to bring the perpetrators to justice.
In an initial reaction, the army spokesperson said that Israel had a right to defend its citizens against terror attacks and had operated carefully during its military operations in civilian areas.
"For more than two years, the State of Israel has been under a continuing battle of Palestinian terror, which cost the lives of 646 Israeli citizens and security forces in more than 14,000 terror attacks," the spokesperson said in a statement in Hebrew.
"The murderous terror reached its peak in March 2002, during which 844 terror attacks were carried out, in which 109 Israeli civilians and security forces were killed. In response to this wave of terror, the army embarked on Operation Defensive Shield on the decision to harm the terrorist infrastructure that was operating undisturbed in Palestinian cities...
"This terrorist infrastructure was placed in the heart of the innocent Palestinian population and used it as a cover. The army worked... against this infrastructure carefully...in the midst of this population."
The army spokesperson pointed out that according to reports by Amnesty International and another international group Human Rights Watch, terror attacks are crimes against humanity and Israel has the right to defend its citizens.
Both the Foreign Ministry and the army said that the claims of the report would be further investigated.
http://www.crosswalk.com/news/1169727.html
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God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
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