ISRAEL HAS delivered a report to the UN defending its actions in last year’s Gaza war and insisting its troops did not violate international law, but has not agreed to hold an independent investigation as demanded.
In the 46-page report, submitted on Friday and released late that night, Israeli authorities admitted some “operational lapses and errors in the exercise of discretion”. But they strongly denied allegations of war crimes raised by international human-rights groups and by two separate UN investigations.
The report reveals there has so far been only one criminal conviction in relation to the war: one soldier was jailed for 7½ months for stealing a credit card from a Palestinian home and using it to withdraw about €290 in cash.
Last September, South African judge Richard Goldstone published a highly critical 575-page report commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council which accused both Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas of “grave breaches” of the fourth Geneva convention, war crimes and possible crimes against humanity.
It called on both sides to start their own credible, independent investigations or risk international prosecutions. Neither Israel nor Hamas has done so and UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon will report on this to the UN general assembly in the coming days.
The three-week war left almost 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead. Last week Hamas officials in Gaza claimed their forces had not committed war crimes because their rockets only hit civilians by mistake as they were crudely built and unguided. Human Rights Watch dismissed that as a “whitewash” and said it was “factually and legally wrong”.
Israel received much sterner criticism in the Goldstone report.
The Israeli report seeks to make the case that Israel’s investigative system is rigorous and up to international standards.
It blames Hamas for a “deliberate strategy . . . to blend in with the civilian population” and says the Israeli military made “strenuous efforts” to minimise harm to civilians. It says 150 incidents have been or are being investigated, of which 36 have been referred for criminal investigation.
But apart from the soldier jailed for “looting”, there have been no criminal charges.
Some incidents were detailed. Israel defended its attack on the al-Badr flour mill in northern Gaza. The Goldstone report concluded this was a “grave breach” of the fourth Geneva convention and a possible war crime.
However, the Israeli report admits the building was hit by tank shells but denies it was hit by an air strike, even though Judge Goldstone found that it was. The Israeli report found no need for a criminal investigation but admitted it “could not conclusively determine” whether the building was ever used by Hamas fighters.
Israel defended its use of white phosphorus and found "no basis" to launch criminal investigations over the shelling of UN buildings and staff. – ( Guardianservice)