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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan | |
| UN war crimes hearings on Gaza wrap up | |
| 2009-07-08 | |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] United Nations war crimes investigators on Tuesday wound up four days of public hearings about Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip after taking painful testimony from both Israelis and Palestinians. Richard Goldstone, a former chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor heading the four-person inquiry team, said he expected to submit its report to the U.N. Human Rights Council next month. Heavy Testimony
According to a Palestinian rights group, 1,417 people including 926 civilians were killed during Israel's Dec. 27-Jan. 18 offensive in the Hamas-ruled territory of 1.5 million people. Israel lost 10 soldiers and three civilians in the fighting, which it launched with the declared aim of halting cross-border rocket fire by militants. It has estimated 1,166 Palestinians were killed, 295 of them civilians. Activists had called for an independent investigation into the conduct of Israeli troops in Gaza, including the destruction of several residential areas and the firing of artillery shells containing white phosphorous which can cause severe burns. Israel denies misconduct Israel has said an internal probe by its armed forces found no evidence of serious misconduct by Israeli troops. Lt. Col Raymond Lane, chief instructor in the Irish Defense Forces School, reported to the U.N. inquiry about weapons used in the conflict. "Through our studies we found no actual proof a DIME round was used," he said, referring to dense inert metal explosives. But referring to samples containing heavy metals such as tungsten and cobalt, analyzed in a forensics laboratory in Dublin, he added: "I am of the view that some weapons systems used in the conflict definitely had some DIME components." White phosphorous can provide cover for troops but also causes burns, he said. "It is horrible stuff." Gazan militants had used low-quality rockets, which lack a guidance system and take about 90 seconds to set up and fire, according to Lane. "They are basically fire and forget". Goldstone's expert team held twin sessions of hearings in Gaza and Geneva, where the Human Rights Council is based. Israel, which has accused the Council of bias against the Jewish state, did not cooperate with the fact-finding mission. The U.N. human rights investigators entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing point from Egypt, as Israel denied them access to the coastal strip as well as to the West Bank. "Obviously on this mission, visiting Gaza was very important, not only to listen to people but to see the physical damage. That shook all of us, the extent of it," Goldstone said. The inquiry would send written questions to the government of Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas authorities seeking further information to clarify testimony, he said. "Our report is due to be completed in the early part of next month and it will be presented to the Human Rights Council in September," he said. "It is obviously premature to talk about the outcome of our findings." | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #4 That would require the U.N. and the Human Rights [abusers] Commission considering Jews human Gorb. I don't think they do. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2009-07-08 10:03 |
| #3 "The aim is to show the human side of suffering and give a voice to victims so they are not lost among statistics." Including Israelis and their sovereignty? |
| Posted by: gorb 2009-07-08 09:45 |
| #2 colonel richard kemp on cast lead |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2009-07-08 09:08 |
| #1 Activists had called for an independent investigation ... So when are they going to have an independent investigation? The UN and Human Rights [abusers] Council are in this up to their eyeballs supporting the terrorists. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2009-07-08 08:36 |