International rights group: Hamas must probe attacks on Israeli civilians

Gilad Schalit home, now!

"Haniyeh's political adviser Yousef Rizka said in response to the HRW call that the Hamas-led government of Gaza "will carry out all Goldstone's recommendations involving the Hamas-mandated Gaza Strip." Unlike Israel, Hamas cooperated in the UN investigation. Unlike Israel, Hamas has pledged to not only to investigate but to conform its conduct to international law. Even the IDF has rep I'm not naive enough to believe that a terrorist organization like Hamas is really remorseful or as eager to tuly comply with international law for moral reasons. But it does seem much quicker than Israel to realize the advantages of cooperation and admit fault. If nothing else, however, Cast Lead, the Goldstone Report, Israel's refusal to cooperate with Goldstone, phony self-investigation and stone-walling the Goldstone process has, in comparison with hamas' recent conduct, greatly elevated Hamas' position in the World and caused Israels' standing to plummet.

How many of the civilians killed in Gaza were murdered by Hamas? At least half of those murdered was when the fighters of Hamas gunned them down by either pulling the trigger or making sure the civilians were in front of them during combat with the Israelis. This has never been brought up. Hamas made sure the body count was high so they could blame Israel for the atrocities it comitted against their own people. There are vidoes showing the fighters from Hamas grapping little children for protection as well as forcing civilians to stand next to buildings where they stored their weapons. Hamas' only aim is to murder civilians whether they be Arabs or Israelis. No one cares when Arabs murder Arabs. However, when Arabs murder Arabs and then blame it on Israel, that makes Headlines in Newspapers. Did Israel cause the death of civilians during the operation in Gaza? I'm sure there were deaths as in all wars but not the numbers Hamas is claiming.

If it wishes to preserve it's honor Hamas must investigate. But then what honor is there to preserve? Time for the International Court of Justice to start investigating.

It is well documented that Israeli army on many occasions used Palestinian civilian as human shields.

C'mon Swiss. You're so talented, with your inane hyperpunctuations. Certainly, you can figure a way to post a comment here which diverts attention away from Hamas crimes, and toward Israel's actions. After all, it's all about the dreaded "occupation", right...???()()():):):) (Is that enough idiotic punctuation for you?)

Jon is right.Robert Bernstein's scathing criticism of HRW,his own creation,is required reading.It looks like HRW was taken over by a clique that's determined to follow its own anti-Israel agenda even to the point of fabrication and ignoring blindingly obvious facts. Thank goodness that there are still some honest people like Mr Bernstein around. THREE CHEERS FOR ISRAEL!!!

I have been reading haaretz for many years and this is one of the funniest articles that I have ever read by your newspaper. I don't know who is more laughable the HRW for this idea or haaretz for printing this. I am sure the Hamas leadership is laughing so hard they have all probobly all fallen off their chairs.

Charming repartee Ilan, way to go. Ever wonder why the Israeli right struggles so much to win friends and influence people? Look at what you have just written, you'd be knocked off your bar stool in a Western country for a half of that., you brave internet warrior. It's funny, you suggesting an American you know nothing about is a non citizen from a trailer park. (Usual derogatory Likudnik debating style). While you are sitting in Ariel, deep in occupied Palestine - the original trailer park where you and settler chums are not even citizens! Proud American will have the last laugh though. Ariel will be one of the first settlements to be removed in the final status agreement, just too far over the Green Line and too close to Salfit for comfort. Bad deeds have a habit of coming back to haunt you.

Israel refuses to engage an independent investigation into their war crimes. P.M. Netanyahu is on record stating that no Israeli will ever be tried for war crimes. It's pretty hypocritical demanding that Hamas probe attacks on Israelis. Sort of like Israel refusing to join the IAEA, sign a nuclear non-proliferation treaty and allow inspections of their nuclear facilities, but then wanting to bomb Iran because they have a nuclear energy program. Israel expects other nations to do what it refuses to do itself, you know, like obey international laws.

They are asking to those who started with suicide bombings in the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, when eldrerly people, women and children were musrdered to investigate ? Why didn't they ask the world to stop with this terror against israeli citizens? Where were they all these years? I can just tell them - GO TO HELL

Too little too late. why not send this a week ago while HRW was bashing Israel along with the rest of the world, including Hamas, while completely ignoring Hamas' responsibilities except for one-liners at the end of every article stating that Goldstone also condemns Hamas. Truthfully a joke. HRW is only trying to save face after its very own founder accused the group of anti-Israel bias. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/20/opinion/20bernstein.html

So 'Rabid dogs show more discrimination of their targets than Hamas' says Ilan. Funny that, it's exactly what Goldstone is leveling at Israel, indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas. You have to admit that 1,100 civilian deaths in 12 days is some going. It is going to take a bit more than made-up stories of human shields to explain that one away. Funny how Israel only lost half a dozen soldiers in all that carnage. Uh, they must have got awfully lucky or been hiding away behind the guns.

One of Israels primary excuses for their chronic slaughter of civilians is that their targets integrate into the civilian community. This is no less true of Israel, where most citizens are affiliated with the IDF in some way and all are apt to carry weapons. If an invader occupies your house, are you not allowed to defend it simply because that invader does not wear a uniform. In any case, the primitive rockets of the militants cannot target anything with accuracy. I suspect that if Hamas had weapons capable of pinpointing IDF targets then they would use them. In the recent Gaza op, Israel killed civilians at a ratio of over 100 to 1. This is the way to determine who targets civilians.

Yes Chaim, it's quite funny. The Likudniks continually bleat on about how everyone is anti Israel, anti Semitic, never give us a fair chance and don't hold the 'terrorists' to the same demanding standards as Israel. Oops! Here is the highly-regarded HRW puncturing that particular Zio balloon, by calling on Hamas to fulfill what the Goldstone report requires of it. You can't have it both ways. You want equal treatment, you just got it. If they don't comply, it will be amusing to see Haniye lining up with Barak, Livni and some in uniforms at the Hague. As a betting man, I'd wager the chances of Hamas having a genuine independent judicial inquiry are about the same as Israel doing so - about 1000/1 against.

And definitely has nothing to be proud about. Justifying the sort of terror that Hamas is responsible is spitting at the US' founders who were on the whole decent people. I guess there are Americans who have a sense of the Pioneers and there there is the trailer trash.

the difference is that the Israelis built their homes with bomb shelters. Don't hold it against the Israelis for being better at staying alive. Plus you don't really have any idea how many civilians died. Hamas aren't man enough to wear uniforms. When they die then they become civilians. This is how they work and convince european tools like you with their propaganda. The internet is more powerful a weapon for Hamas then any rocket they could ever fire.

Nearly 100 civilian deaths PER DAY for 12 days against 0.25 Israeli soldiers? The Israelis must have decided to shoot all the human shields. Except of course there weren't many, it's another myth, the Hamas insurgents melted away. Explains why only 300 of them were killed. The civilians were largely killed by air strikes, shelling and fire support, some by small arms, but the Israeli army didn't really get close enough to engage in much one-to-one combat with insurgents. No serviceman would be too proud of this escapade, I can only assume most on here have not done their national service yet.

Ilan I know another country good at what you describe, I believe you live there..

and Israel been a democratic country behave like a terrorist during cast lead so need to investigate his own soldiers and when they speak because they dont want to hear it not shut them up!!

You are using Israeli propaganda I am tired to hear it and is not flying anymore

When has Israel ever behaved fairly ref the UN David Alabama? It is in breach of over 100 UN resolutions and whole tracts of international law. Illegal land theft, illegal settlement, illegal annexation of E J'Sem and on and on. There really need to be 2 UNs, one for Israel and various quirky states like N Korea and Sudan, where Israel gets to make up the rules and speaks incessantly to itself, one for the rest of the world where rules are rules and civilised nations follow them.

This request is so far from the real world it could be consider parody. Hamas has long engaged in indiscriminate terror toward civilians and always finds some far-fetched rationale to justify doing so. It is a common position of Fatah and Hamas that the 'resistance' is sacred. Resistance being a wide term that justifies things like murdering children at point-blank range, or axing the brains out of some hapless child. Rabid dogs show more discrimination of their targets than Hamas.

Hamas main charter exist to violate Human rights of both Israelis and Arabs. Of course their acts of terror were deliberate and determined to cause mass murder! How absurd and what a joke to ask mass murdering terrorist to probe their acts of murder!

Im all for charging Hamas with war crimes as long as Israel is charged as well. Let the courts decide who is really guilty and who isn't.

Suzy Morgana justifies murder with math. Tell me Suzy how many Italians must die before you would allow your country to defend itself. Lets find out OK? Im gonna fire ten thousand rockets at the Vatican, at schools, and civilian population centers for a period of 8 years. You let me know when you have had enough ok, but dont you dare sink so low as to try and defend yourself. How pathetic you Israel bashers really are?..

OK Suzy Im gonna fire ten thousand rockets at the Vatican, at schools, and civilian population centers for a period of 8 years. You let me know when you have had enough ok, but dont you dare sink so low as to try and defend yourself. How pathetic you Israel bashers really are?..

Much more Germans were killed during WW2 then Americans . So who was wrong then in your esteemed opinion ? Body count , if for legitimate defense , does not prove wrongdoing . If Palis would refrain from rocketing Israeli civilian centers for eight years and would build a country for themselves you would not have to count bodies today , dear .

Air Force pilots are military personnel - no? The task of Air Force pilots in all armies around the world is to bomb targets. Ask the US, British, French governments!

Math has nothing to do with it. Hamas uses the civilian population for cover, hides their ammunition in their homes and shoots at Israel from there, knowing that civilians will get hurt when Israel retaliates. Then fools like you can do a body count and blame Israel. The IDF on the other hand, do all it can to protect Israeli citizens from harm.

It sounds like this writer never heard , never read who the Hamas and their terrorist cohorts are . And in general , what is Islamic terror . Seems like just stepped out of the kindergarten .

I think Israel should charge the UN for "War Crimes" and "Crimes Against Humanity" for letting their buildings be used for storing weapons as well as launching missles from these properties as evidence through videos. The UN let their vehicles be used to transport fighters and weapons under the UN Flag. This was done without the UN warning Israel of this danger, meaning, the UN was participating in the fight against Israel. A CLEAR VIOLATION of WAR. All UN Employees invoved in this should be brought forth to stand trial. Will this happen? I think not! The UN only looks to blame Israel through all the anti-Israel/anti-Jewish retoric demonstrated at their headquarters. When has Israel ever been treated fairly at the UN?

hamas's target is civilians there is nothing to investigate. they dont reject targeting civilians. so in the end of the investigation what do we wait from them to put themself in the jail. i cant wait to see that all hamas members coming to israel and saying: can you put us in jail apparently we committed war crimes and we found ourselfs guilty and we dont have a big prison in gaza to take us all so we came to you as we do always (electricity etc comes from isr). this kind of organizations Human rights etc are so naive or just do it on purpose!! why do they exist in the first place they just blah blah...

This war never would have started if Hamas was not firing missiles at Israeli towns. Israel repeatedly warned Hamas of a major offensive if they didn't stop. And now that the war is over, the missiles have stopped. If Israel showed any weakness in fighting this war Hamas would still be firing missiles into Israel. Job well done, Israel.

#3 sussana the IDF engages enemy combatants with MORAL tactics, hamas's SO CALLED liberators DONT wear uniforms so if I was an IDF soldier I and most of my fellow soliders have to make split decisions YOU THINK YOU DIE, is that hard to understand? YOU foolish women hamas uses it people as a means to an end. This is moral corruption and ALL moslem nations use the tactics against ALL non-moslems armies, even against sectarian and nonsectarian people. hamas will LYE through their teeth if they even investgate at all. Wake up from your slumber, get the facts STRAIGHT.

And you Sussana morgana from Rome(beautiful city), are going to study History, English and also how to evaluate and behave like a human being. Cheers from France.

Israel or Hamas investigating themselves?

HRW must be aware that Hamas in Gaza is not a recognized world state, and therefore not answerable to any criticism or pressures. As such it is free to sit down there and launch missiles at Israel kindergartens as much as it wants. You are wasting your breath, HRW. In fact, you are now guilty of harassment and Hamas is allowed to send suicide bombers to your 5th Avenue offices to avenge Allah.

weeks. You do the math.

You can't look anymore stupid than you already do.

also to be subjected to criminal charges in the International Courts also. During Operation cast Lead a list of thenames of all the pilots and their targets as discovered on a rubbish tip in Tel aviv. This was sent out of the country and is noe in the hands of lawuyers in the United kingdom who are working through it. Just because Israel charges HAMAS does not mean we will astop pressing charges against Israel.