UN releases Israeli, PA responses to Goldstone; no input from Hamas
UN Report: Israel has launched more than 150 probes into its role in 2008-2009 Gaza war; Human Rights Watch: Hamas appears to have done nothing to investigate its culpability.
By The Associated Press Tags: Goldstone report UN Gaza war Hamas Ban Ki-moonUnited Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday released the results of Israeli and Palestinian investigations into alleged war crimes during the conflict in Gaza in the winter of 2008-2009, which did not appear to include any input from Gaza's Hamas rulers.
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Richard Goldstone during a session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, Sept. 29, 2009. |
| Photo by: AP |
The UN chief introduced the 247-page report with brief observations that made no comment on the submissions by Israel or the Palestinians, which were requested by the General Assembly. He said it was important to respect international human rights and humanitarian law and expressed hope that steps will be taken wherever there are credible allegations of violations.
Last November, the 192-member world body gave Israel and the Palestinians three months to undertake independent, credible investigations into the findings of a UN-appointed expert panel chaired by South African Judge Richard Goldstone. In February, it gave both sides an additional five months to conduct their inquiries.
The report said that Israel has launched more than 150 investigations in allegations of misconduct or violations of international law during the Gaza conflict. It said the military has opened 47 criminal investigations and initiated criminal prosecutions of four soldiers in separate incidents.
Human Rights Watch called on governments and the UN to maintain pressure on Israel and Hamas to conduct thorough and impartial investigations, and to provide justice to the victims of abuses.
"Israeli investigations still fall far short of being thorough and impartial, while Hamas appears to have done nothing at all to investigate alleged violations," the rights group's program director Iain Levine said in a statement. "We regret that the secretary-general merely passed on the reports he received from Israel and the Palestinian side instead of making the failings of these investigations clear."
The 575-page Goldstone report concluded that both sides committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity during the Gaza war, in which 13 Israelis and almost 1,400 Palestinians were killed, including many civilians.
It said Israel used disproportionate force, deliberately targeted civilians, used Palestinians as human shields, and destroyed civilian infrastructure during its three-week incursion into the Gaza Strip to root out Palestinian rocket squads.
It accused Palestinian armed groups including Hamas of deliberately targeting civilians and trying to spread terror through rocket attacks on southern Israel.
Both sides rejected the charges when the Goldstone report was issued, and their positions remained unchanged in the newly released reports.
The General Assembly resolution warned of possible further action by UN bodies, including the Security Council, if both sides didn't conduct independent and credible investigations. Whether the assembly plans any follow-up to Wednesday's report remains to be seen.
UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said Ban was asked by the General Assembly to solicit investigation reports from both sides but was not requested to express his views on the responses received.
The Israeli military submitted its report on July 21 and said it has made numerous changes to its operational procedures and policies in order to further enhance the protection of civilians from the hazards of battle and the protection of private property during military operations.
The Palestinian report was submitted by the Independent Investigation Commission established by the Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank but lost control of Gaza to Hamas in 2007.
It said the numbers and the facts speak for themselves and accused Israel of acting with impunity, disregarding international law, and justifying its indiscriminate, disproportionate and collective punishment measures against the Palestinian people, as if no limitations applied to Israel.
The Palestinian commission said that since Hamas took over Gaza legal institutions are being undermined and this has resulted in a high number of violations of international human rights law, negatively impacting the situation of human rights in Gaza. But the commission emphasized that there is no moral equivalency between Israel's violations of international humanitarian and human rights law during the Gaza conflict and the situation concerning observance and respect for human rights in Gaza by Hamas.
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It accused Palestinian armed groups including Hamas of deliberately targeting civilians and trying to spread terror through rocket attacks on southern Israel..... How would the UN , or anyone for that matter , define a proportional force to stop such terror ? It was going on for years dispite every effort to stop it and only a powerful kick in the ass did stop it . Proportion ????? Stupid .
The UN, may at will, repeal the status of Israel as the legal occupying power in Gaza. The kind of violations involved, and the continued blockade, are just the sort of issues that could be used to justify that action.
If you're born in Gaza youre trapped between the Israeli and Hamas fights. You're bullied by Hamas and you're bullied by IDF. The Gaza conflict is not about two sides. It's at least about three sides. The terrorists Hamas, the IDF and the civilians trapped in Gaza. Some would claim that the people of Gaza voted for Hamas and thats true as far as i know. But they refuse to see the reason behind it. Reasons as a corrupt Palestinean Administration in the West Bank that didnt bother much about their brothers and sisters in Gaza. The PA at west bank was undermined by Israel and weakened, which made it more or less powerless to Hamas. I wonder what the Israeli settlers at occupied Palestinean land would think if they had to endure what the people of Gaza are foreced to endure. What would the Israelis, UN, and the rest of the world say?
population is reflective of its leadership . Gaza , as a whole , overwhelmingly voted for terror instead of peaceful coexistence that was generously offered to them after Israeli withdrawal . They even destriyed and looted the agrycultural facilities left by Israel and ttechnology paid for
Wow - Israel - Wow. Congratulations, that is some writing. Probably written whitewash - Really do you think Europe is so gullible that anyone would believe such a story - Fairy stories come at a cheaper price. I bet you the public libraries in Europe are only queueing up for copies to meet the demand.
Hamas had been sporadically firing rockets toward Israel for years, both before and after the Gaza Op. Although these rockets had not done any significant damage or caused any casualties for a long time, Israel eventually got fed up with it and rightly so. The problem was that Israels reaponse to the rockets was to mount a reprisal expedition into Gaza with the civilian community and infrastructure as the targets. Hamas did offer any direct resistance to the invading Israeli force. This has been acknowledged by Israel and helps explain why Israels casualties were so low. In fact, most of the Israeli dead we as a result of an Israeli "friendly fire" incident. When a member nation of the UN targets any civilian community and kills over 1000 people, this merits an explaination. As for Hamas, they have nothing to explain. Their sporadic rocket launches had become routine and are a well known part of their resistance to the Israeli occupation. You can accpt this fact or call them bloody terrorists. Either way they did not kill over a thousand people in two weeks. Their motives and their methods are well known. This major reprisal operation on Israels part was something new and disturbing. If writing a response is the extent of Israels penalty, then once again they have gotten away with mass murder.
tell your brothers to find shelters for their people not just their leaders,when the predictable RETURN fire comes. Plenty of tunneling talent in Gaza
The rockets DID cause casualties. Regardless, no country would put up with one rocket being fired, much less 8000. You other point about 1000 deaths is also erroneous. A majority of those killed were terrorists, who were enemy combatants. These thugs purposely hid among civilians and are just as responsible as anyone.
since when does the frequency of a type of attack against population centers exonerate someone from responsibility?
Peace with Egypt and Jordan, Lebanon with the exception of Hizbullah is no threat and Syria can,t stand a day in front of the IDF. Give the Palestinians their Human rights in a way or another and you are set Jehuda. See ? it is that easy freind.
Its obvious that Israel is the victim here ;)
Let's sit you in your local town square and fire a few hundred rockets in your general direction, giving you about 12 seconds to find some cover. As long as none hit you (never mind the trauma), you are not a victim, right?
Hamas wasnt obliged, but the PA.
to investigate. By the pro Arab biased UNHRC
Shooting rockets at Israeli civilians is of course a war crime and cannot be tolerated. The Israeli response though , was totally unpropotionate and inhumane , especially the deployment of cluster ammunition and worse of all, white phosphore . The deliberate destruction of the civilian infra structure , leaving thousands of private homes totally destroyed is also a war crime .Military action was not only taken to prevent rocket attacks , but also to punish the WHOLE Palestinian population in Gaza and that is the main reason why most people in the world are so angry about Israel. War crimes on both sides caused the death of 1400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.....no further comment !
UN or US does not recognize Hamas as legal government.. and an investigation by an so called illegal government will not be deemed valid
that's a fair point Naveed, it is indeed odd to expect a regime, though duly elected, that is deemed by others to be usurpers, to then be held up against the standards of those that refuse to recognize it's legitimacy. We humans, silly centric things that we are, have an inherent capacity for hypocrisy. And I am no better, what do you think? I’m just curious.
So that it will be legitimate to take their leaders to international court, where they will answer for their crimes. See, if you don't investigate it yourself, lots of nice opportunities emerge.
whether they are war lords or gangsters.
Thoughtful comment
are responsible for their actions.
come on fess up--I have asked you 10k times. Don,t you have a paece plan buddy. Don,t you want peace.
Palestinians don't have a legitimate government, thus killing them indiscriminately from the Israeli point of view is legal. It is an outrage.
HAMAS is the problem, if they spent more time building their country instead of bombs and rockets, things would be much better.
And so are the settlers.
Get rid of the occupation (now don't tell me there is no occupation!), stop settlement activity, let the palestinians live a dignified life. Hamas will stop firing rockets!
occupation is in the west bank, not in gaza. they left gaza years ago. separate governments. gaza is left to themselves, but they still decide on firing rockets. even in cease fires.
The settler issue is a red herring. Fact is that hamas shot the majority of their rockets after the settlers left Gaza
In many occasions Hamas stoped firing rockets , but Israel never stoped assasinating Hamas, leaders and members through air strikes. It is documented.
do you know where I can download the reports (israeli and palestinian reports from the gaza strip and the west bank)??? Thanks
No wait. Why won't you do it yourself?
Unfortunatly, they put building-bombs education before normal education.
... to perform introspection, and defines scholarship as mastery of the Koran. Expect nothing, and you will not be disappointed.
Did someone really expect Hamas to investigate anything? Weird.
My advice to The Mr Richard Goldstone ......... Don't take life too serious. You'll never escape it alive anyway.
I agree with Noel 100% Goldstone needs to understand that he does have the right to be mad, but he don't have the right to give unbalanced reports. Such a big discrepancy in favour of the Hamas .
In what way does the Goldstone Report favour Hamas? It doesnt. I guess you are one of those who think that if there is any chriticism at all against Israel it's the same as favouring or side with Hamas. That's a bit too simpleminded too me
Finally they show difference from Israel. I hope they don't compare themselves with Hamas again and stop the good work.
This war must have happened in a vacuum. Eight years of bombing Sderot is nothing.
Therefore Goldstone could not include it in his report, except by hearsay... to this day cannot fathom why Israel did not let him in, to see the proximity of the terrain, to speak to those who had been harmed, to hear it all at first had...then he could have fully related to Sderot and the other yeshuvim in the vicinity in his report... indeed, and why could he not visit Ashkelon to see how far the Hamas missiles had intruded themselves into our lives and territory. S, have you ever addresses this question to israel? Why in the heck did they keep Goldstone out?
In fact the UN and it's investgators condemned Israel before they even investigated Hamas murder of Gazans was never an issue for the UNHRC. Nor do they seem to get very involved in Islamist "justice" the upcoming stoning in Iran is a prime example A condemnation by the UN ? an investigation by UNHRC? As unlikely as hanging judge Goldstone and his crew pronouncing themselves " shocked to the core " Israel haters your agenda is clear Bring on today's mob of moral giantsto bash Israel,we are ready fit you Will our replies get printed? That's another story However if you shout a headline against Israel, no content or substance needed or make derogatory comment about Jews, no not Israel,Jews you will get published
or that they are the chosen ones. It is ZIONIST HYPOCRACY AND LIES THAT GET YOU NOTICED. OH, AND THE 60 YEARS OF OPPRESSION.
The ridiculousness of just how blind the U.N. is in who they're assuming Hamas is and WHO is actually oppressing Gaza is completely embarrassing for a world body group. Do they actually ever leave that big room that they get together and talk about nothing all day? Change the name to the United Morons
good topic, it's about time for a new and independent investigation on 9/11. The evidence for a "false flag operation" on that day is overwhelming...
Hamas, which expressly calls for the obliteration of Israel, has launched approximately 3,000 rockets and mortar bombs into Israeli civilian centers, always for the purpose of killing and maiming Israelis if possible, and terrifying those who are not actually hit. In the last week or so, Hamas has fired some 200 rockets and bombs into Israeli communities. Under these circumstances - circumstances which would have continued without end had the Israelis failed to act - it seems clear that the Israeli military response was not merely a necessary one. It was, regrettably, the only one left. Israeli author Amos Oz, whose call for peace with the Palestinians is shared by a majority of Israelis, succinctly described the brutalization of Israeli civilians in terms that cannot fairly be disputed. In a recent piece entitled "Israel Must Defend Its Citizens," the longtime advocate for reconciliation between Palestinians and Israelis wrote: "The systematic bombing of the citizens in Israel's towns and cities is a war crime and a crime against humanity." Oz is correct. But it isn't only Israelis whose fundamental human rights Hamas is violating. It is those of the Palestinian population about whose welfare Hamas professes to care. In direct contravention of international law, Hamas uses Palestinian civilians as human shields, utilizing homes, schools and community centers as launching pads, content in the knowledge that if innocent Palestinian civilians are caught in the cross-fire, it will be Israel that is criticized. This amounts to a sort of Daily Double of human rights violations: the use of innocent Palestinians as human shields for the infliction of violence upon innocent Israelis. It is Hamas that perfected the use of the suicide bomb, by which young Palestinians were induced to kill themselves so that Israelis could also be killed. It is somehow apt that Hamas should be forever associated with the suicide bomb, for in a larger sense Hamas has proved to be an instrument of the demise of Palestinians in Gaza. Hamas's persistent call for the annihilation of Israel through jihad, its unequivocal rejection of any peace with Israel under any circumstances, its seizure of Gaza through a coup d'etat, its repression of women and freedom of expression, and its embrace of Iran have all disgusted the international community, which will have little to do with it. Hamas has likewise repelled numerous Arab governments, which might otherwise have been expected to dip into their ample reserves of petrodollars to provide much-needed aid and foreign investment to Gaza, but which have steered clear of it. Thus Hamas leads the Gazan population on a kamikaze course. The suffering of Gazans cannot conceivably be a genuine concern of the leadership, given the perpetuation of that suffering for which Hamas is responsible. And the suffering of Israelis is its avowed goal. Whether it was South Africa or Sudan, the international community has understood that the way to deal with truly egregious human rights violators is not to placate them, but to speak the truth about them, and to them. If the truth is spoken plainly enough, and forcefully enough, to a Hamas leadership whose cruelty and callousness have reached alarming levels, it may be that the Palestinians and Israelis alike may be spared further suffering of the kind to which they have been relegated in the past. Jeff Robbins, an attorney, was a US delegate to the United Nations
How do you come up with over 50 lines of nonsense?
How do you think you look, attempting to dismiss a succinct, accurate representation of Hamas with a 2 year old's comment?
as human shields? Israel was, but Hamas has never been caught on camera doing that. It has always been pure allegations and no proof what so ever that Hamas does that , agin IDF soldiers were caught on camera in more than on e occasion. Think before write Chafeeka.