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Comments:  126
Last update - 23:27 30/03/2009
IDF ends Gaza probe, says misconduct claims are 'rumors'
By Anshel Pfeffer and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents, and Reuters
Tags: Gaza, IDF, war crimes 

Military Advocate General Brig. Gen. Avichai Mendelblit on Monday instructed the Military Police Investigation unit to close the inquiry into soldiers' accounts of alleged misconduct and serious violations of the army's rules of engagement during Operation Cast Lead.

He said it was unfortunate that the soldiers, who discussed their Gaza experiences in private on Feb. 13 at a military academy session which was later leaked verbatim to the media, had been careless about accuracy.

"It will be difficult to evaluate the damage done to the image and morals [of the armed forces] in Israel and the world", his statement said
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In a press release issued Monday the army said that the preliminary Military Police investigation into the testimonies revealed that they "were based on hearsay and not first-hand experience."

The probe was launched earlier this month after IDF soldiers were quoted as telling a military cadet academy that combat troops in Gaza fired at unarmed Palestinian civilians and vandalized property during Operation Cast Lead. The army has barred those soldiers from speaking to the press. The allegations first surfaced in the media on March 19.

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.

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.

IDF investigators said the soldier who alleged that a comrade was given orders to shoot an elderly woman had not witnessed such an event and "was only repeating a rumour he had heard". They noted, on the other hand, that a woman who approached troops and was suspected of being a suicide bomber had been fired upon repeatedly to try to stop her advancing at them.

The Israeli human rights groups B'Tselem, Yesh Din, Physicians for Human Rights and others issued a statement Monday saying "the speedy closing of the investigation immediately raises suspicions that [it] was merely the army's attempt to wipe its hands of all blame for illegal activity..."

The groups said the allegations should be investigated by a non-partisan body.



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      1.   no investigation 17:10  |  Saul 30/03/09
      2.   Wow 17:12  |  Anna 30/03/09
      3.   What a surprise !! 17:16  |  Sam Soul 30/03/09
      4.   Justice in Israel is "rumors" 17:24  |  Indigenous 30/03/09
      5.   I think they just don`t get it 17:33  |  GaileeHero 30/03/09
      6.   GAZA WAR 17:34  |  abe 30/03/09
      7.   Gqaza War crimes? 17:37  |  David Gershon 30/03/09
      8.   Rumors? 17:38  |  Suspicious 30/03/09
      9.   Will Haaretz now apologize? 17:44  |  Sammy 30/03/09
      10.   already? 17:51  |  m 30/03/09
      11.   yeah, just like the extent of the holocaust 17:55  |  Historian 30/03/09
      12.   Well its too darn late. 17:56  |  Stephen. 30/03/09
      13.   How so quickly...?I 17:57  |  Esther 30/03/09
      14.   Probably not going away that easily 17:59  |  Dave Duncan 30/03/09
      15.   As Sargeant Friday once said on Dragnet . . . 18:04  |  Zev Davis 30/03/09
      16.   IDF ends Gaza probe 18:05  |  Imre 30/03/09
      17.   What a surprise 18:09  |  Tarik 30/03/09
      18.   Haaretz 18:10  |  JS 30/03/09
      19.   Accounts of squad leaders. 18:14  |  sandra chitayat 30/03/09
      20.   YEP. CHECK AND WERE ARE MOST MORAL 18:14  |  CHOSEN WORLD 30/03/09
      21.   IOF Investigation 18:15  |  yuval 30/03/09
      22.   Whitewash 18:20  |  Chris Linthwaite 30/03/09
      23.   Amazing 18:24  |  Marilyn 30/03/09
      24.   Pal. Names don`t match their lies 18:28  |  Slappy 30/03/09
      25.   Why do we never hear calls for Hamas leaders to be charged .... 18:29  |  Jean Van Daem 30/03/09
      26.   Well this came as no surprise! 18:33  |  Matty Groves 30/03/09
      27.   Israel: The home of the 15 minute investigation 18:35  |  Natallie Durson 30/03/09
      28.   Jerusalem Post answers these inccidents. 18:35  |  JO 30/03/09
      29.   On the other hand 18:38  |  alan the real one 30/03/09
      30.   casualties of war 18:38  |  Yossi 30/03/09
      31.   Gaza investigation to #6 18:38  |  Enoch 30/03/09
      32.   Zev Davis - outrageous nonsense 18:38  |  Don 30/03/09
      33.   Yuval, you forgot the "self-hating jews" bit 18:41  |  Bwana Veritas 30/03/09
      34.   IDF no longer even pretends to be moral 18:43  |  Don 30/03/09
      35.   Killing machine 18:46  |  m 30/03/09
      36.   No surprise 18:53  |  Janice 30/03/09
      37.   #18 JVD 18:55  |  Space 30/03/09
      38.   I wonder how many posters stopped reading at the headline 19:01  |  La Figaro 30/03/09
      39.   Dallas Don 19:03  |  Tecumseh 30/03/09
      40.   lets believe everything the Palestinians, hamas say 19:04  |  Zionist 30/03/09
      41.   What a joke 19:05  |  David 30/03/09
      42.   to 21 19:32  |  Guy 30/03/09
      43.   ha`aretz 19:36  |  Dave 30/03/09
      44.   Getting too close to painful truths 19:40  |  American 30/03/09
      45.   hey figaro25. for someone with such good sight, i guess you also 19:42  |  hypocrisy? 30/03/09
      46.   rumors 19:43  |  rm 30/03/09
      47.   Israel one step closer to emulating its enemies 19:50  |  Reuven 30/03/09
      48.   Well, that`s all settled then 19:53  |  Colin Wright 30/03/09
      49.   This Is A Joke 19:53  |  Yaakov Sullivan 30/03/09
      50.   joke of the day 19:55  |  jon 30/03/09
      51.   I would bet if the Sudanese governement would launch..... 20:01  |  Swiss (Dino) 30/03/09
      52.   #25 La Figaro , did u see dead Israelis 20:04  |  Zionist 30/03/09
      53.   no difference between IDF AND ivestigators 20:05  |  James 30/03/09
      54.   Not that we meant to comment... 20:07  |  Colin Wright 30/03/09
      55.   what a relief 20:07  |  rm 30/03/09
      56.   Is the investigation just a whitewash ? 20:07  |  Jack 30/03/09
      57.   To Natallie Durson (#19) 20:13  |  flyingdoc57 30/03/09
      58.   Why should it take longer time? 20:27  |  Yossi 30/03/09
      59.   The fox guarding the hens 20:34  |  Joe 30/03/09
      60.   #16 Slappy 20:48  |  observer 30/03/09
      61.   No wonder ... 20:49  |  RobertS 30/03/09
      62.   Don 20:53  |  Philippe 30/03/09
      63.   misconduct claims are `rumors` 21:00  |  WHG 30/03/09
      64.   natallie #19 thast still 15 minutes more than arabs/muslims 21:01  |  i dare you ND 30/03/09
      65.   Don , it was proved in a French Court! 21:03  |  Zev Davis 30/03/09
      66.   Gaza War 21:09  |  sam 30/03/09
      67.   Will Haaretz now apologize? 21:13  |  sam 30/03/09
      68.   No other country investigates itself as Israel 21:14  |  TOMY 30/03/09
      69.   IDF ends Gaza probe 21:18  |  sam 30/03/09
      70.   IDF 21:18  |  AARON 30/03/09
      71.   fueling controversy 21:21  |  RfaelMoshe 30/03/09
      72.   Pinocchio must be very proud with IDF`s probe 21:25  |  Pollok 30/03/09
      73.   be fair not self-hating 21:28  |  sm 30/03/09
      74.   surely someone must have seen alleged incidents 21:30  |  David K 30/03/09
      75.   Natallie #19... lucky you go your foot-in-the-door... 21:36  |  Esther 30/03/09
      76.   Is still preferable for Israel to prefer and trust only itself 21:38  |  Israeli citizen 30/03/09
      77.   Israel vs the United States 21:40  |  Yaakov Sullivan 30/03/09
      78.   Like A Rapist 21:41  |  Yaakov Sullivan 30/03/09
      79.   Geez, what a surprise eye opener!!!! 21:45  |  ballistic 30/03/09
      80.   IDF war criminals exonerate themselves, what a surprise! 21:47  |  peacelover 30/03/09
      81.   #12 JS re Haaretz 21:49  |  ballistic 30/03/09
      82.   Indiscriminate Death Force 22:03  |  ashamed 30/03/09
      83.   Still is convenient for Israel to trust only itself 22:05  |  Israeli citizen 30/03/09
      84.   Next to terrorists IDF looks like angels 22:07  |  petra 30/03/09
      85.   Jean Van Daem: they tried investigating Hamas use of human shield 22:07  |  AT 30/03/09
      86.   What do you all have to say about this: 22:08  |  Yonatan 30/03/09
      87.   The claims of a few Israeli soldiers vs. the denial of 1000`s 22:11  |  Robert 30/03/09
      88.   STAY PURE AND RIGHTEOUS WITH MIRACLE WHITEWASH! 22:33  |  Joel 30/03/09
      89.   Sounds Entirely Possible 22:37  |  J 30/03/09
      90.   You All Talk Shyte, All Of You 22:38  |  Ronald 30/03/09
      91.   IDF motto: Ask me no questions, I`ll tell you no lies 22:41  |  Natallie Durson 30/03/09
      92.   I like this instructor, let´s make him president 22:50  |  mario 30/03/09
      93.   Whitewash 23:02  |  Arturo 30/03/09
      94.   One law for one...one for another 23:12  |  Ant 30/03/09
      95.   Ever heard of Mohammed al Durra, Don from Dallas? 23:17  |  Sceptic 30/03/09
      96.   If Custer had lived.... 23:26  |  American 30/03/09
      97.   The problem is that there are NO unbiased sources. 23:31  |  Spitzer 30/03/09
      98.   If Custer had lived.... 23:34  |  American 30/03/09
      99.   This summary dismissal of investigation only demonstrates 23:36  |  Victor 30/03/09
      100.   Stop the Silence are IDF soldiers are they telling the truth? 23:51  |  jim the mechanic 30/03/09
      101.   Does the Israeli Left Have Any Shame? 00:02  |  massaraksh 31/03/09
      102.   No, Don (#22) 00:03  |  David 31/03/09
      103.   Nothing to see here 00:05  |  American 31/03/09
      104.   Congratulations to the most moral army 00:11  |  Sugar 31/03/09
      105.   To Jean Van Daem: When a Dog Bites a Man, It`s Not a Story 00:11  |  massaraksh 31/03/09
      106.   There you go, the "most moral army in the world".... 00:24  |  Maureen Ann 31/03/09
      107.   IDF probe 00:25  |  view from outside 31/03/09
      108.   sammy 6 00:36  |  potobac 31/03/09
      109.   sorry why world tv does not say a thing 00:41  |  de 31/03/09
      110.   IDF Probes for Misconduct of IDF 01:08  |  Connie 31/03/09
      111.   Must be a joke 01:58  |  Toni 31/03/09
      112.   Gaza probe ended 02:37  |  Tom 31/03/09
      113.   As if we really needed an investigation... 03:27  |  flyingdoc57 31/03/09
      114.   When I was a kid 03:56  |  Terrie 31/03/09
      115.   It`s too late! 04:38  |  Maria 31/03/09
      116.   Re Investigation 05:26  |  Shlomog 31/03/09
      117.   RE Tarik 05:33  |  Shlomog 31/03/09
      118.   The most moral army in the world survives another day 06:26  |  maoriboy 31/03/09
      119.   WHITEWASH 08:00  |  without 31/03/09
      120.   It`s irresponsible to deny misconduct and war crimes 09:02  |  Dutch 31/03/09
      121.   psssssst.............. 11:21  |  NotAnObot 31/03/09
      122.   GAZA WAR 15:21  |  giovanna luccardi 31/03/09
      123.   What next have the Taliban investigate themself? 15:57  |  James 31/03/09
      124.   IDF ends Gaza probe 20:17  |  Mason 31/03/09
      125.   IDF Ends Gaza Probe 22:18  |  JD 31/03/09
      126.   Can I just point out something.......... 05:05  |  Johnboy 02/04/09
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