UN: Israeli military killed 44 Palestinians at UN shelters

[webfact]

UN: Israeli military killed 44 Palestinians at UN shelters
CARA ANNA, Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A U.N. inquiry has found that at least 44 Palestinians were killed and at least 227 injured by direct mortar strikes and other "Israeli actions" while sheltering at U.N. locations during last year's Gaza war. The Palestinians said they would give the findings to the International Criminal Court.

The independent board of inquiry also said that Palestinian militant groups hid weapons at three empty U.N. schools in Gaza and that in two cases Palestinian militants "probably" fired from the schools.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday that he deplores the deaths, calling U.N. locations "inviolable." Ban also said the Palestinian militants' use of them was "unacceptable."

The 2014 war was the most devastating for Gaza's 1.8 million people, killing more than 2,200 Palestinians, a majority of them civilians, according to U.N. figures. Seventy-two people were killed on the Israeli side, including 66 soldiers.

In one case, the new inquiry says, a U.N. girls' school was hit by 88 mortar rounds fired by the Israeli Defense Forces. In another case, another girls' school was hit by direct fire from the IDF with an anti-tank projectile. A third girls' school was hit by an IDF missile.

At a coed college, one block was damaged by a projectile fired by an Israeli tank.

On July 30, Israeli strikes tore through the walls of the Jebaliya Elementary girls' school, which was crowded with sleeping war refugees. Some 3,000 Gazans had sought refuge there. A series of Israeli artillery shells hit before daybreak. A classroom became a scene of bloodied clothing, bedding and debris. The inquiry says 17 or 18 people were killed, including a U.N. staff member and two of his sons.

"No prior warning had been given by the government of Israel of the firing of 155 MM high explosive projectiles on, or in the surrounding area of the school," the inquiry says.

A spokesman for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said in a statement, "The inquiry found that despite numerous notifications to the Israeli army of the precise GPS coordinates of the schools and numerous notifications about the presence of displaced people, in all seven cases investigated by the Board of Inquiry when our schools were hit directly or in the immediate vicinity, the hit was attributable to the IDF."

Spokesman Chris Gunness added, "In none of the schools which were hit directly or in the immediate vicinity, were weapons discovered or fired from."

The inquiry also found weak security at the U.N. schools where weapons were found. It said in two cases that a "Palestinian armed group" likely fired from two of the schools.

The U.N. released its summary of the report but said the full 207-page report is private. The inquiry looked at 10 incidents. Ban's statement stressed that the board of inquiry "does not make legal findings" and was not tasked with addressing the wider issues of the Gaza war.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki said, "We will take the report and will present to the International Criminal Court, especially that they are looking these days at our request to do a preliminary study." The Palestinian Authority became a member of the court this month in an effort to pressure Israel..

Malki also praised the U.N. for releasing the report after a delay, saying he had been worried that Israel was trying to suppress it.

In a statement, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said, "All of the incidents attributed by the report to Israel have already been subject to thorough examinations, and criminal investigations have been launched where relevant. ... Israel makes every effort to avoid harm to sensitive sites."

Nahshon's statement added, "The executive summary of the report clearly documents the exploitation by terrorist organizations of U.N. facilities in the Gaza Strip."

Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas, the militant Islamic group that rules Gaza, said the U.N. report was a "clear condemnation" of Israel. On reports that militants used U.N. schools to store weapons he said: "Hamas has no information about this."
___

Associated Press writers Ian Deitch in Jerusalem and Karin Laub in Amman, Jordan, contributed.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-04-28

[hard124get]

Time to charge Israel for war crimes. Don't be distracted by the rubbish about rockets fired from Gaza. How many civilians did they kill?

[konying]

Time to charge Israel for war crimes. Don't be distracted by the rubbish about rockets fired from Gaza. How many civilians did they kill?

Selective reading as usual. Rockets fired or stored in UN locations

[Steely Dan]

Palestinian terrorists as a matter of policy use UN facilities for arms storage and routinely fire weapons from within their premises. The U.N know full well this is going on and in one case when the press got wind that weapons were found they in effect gave them back to Hamas to take away, Chris Gunness is lying when he stated no weapons were found in the schools hit. His agency consists of about 10% foreign ideologues and 90% locals, who are in effect Hamas wearing blue uniforms, thus nothing they say should be taken at face value. And who commissioned the report, was it by any chance the UNHRC?

[Ulysses G.]

Hamas started the conflict, refused to stop firing rockets at civilian areas and used their own civilians as human shields. Blame THEM.

[dexterm]

Both sides are criticized in the report.

But while Israel and her apologists are in denial about their own war crimes in this instance firing missiles at 4 girls’ schools killing 44 children, they will never move forward as a state.

Wouldn’t it just be simpler to admit that the IDF did wrong too rather than distort and attempt to rationalize the truth...the murder of innocents?

Israeli apologists make themselves look ridiculous trying to justify the IDF slaughter. The whole world is watching this time.

[konying]

Both sides are criticized in the report.

But while Israel and her apologists are in denial about their own war crimes in this instance firing missiles at 4 girls’ schools killing 44 children, they will never move forward as a state.

Wouldn’t it just be simpler to admit that the IDF did wrong too rather than distort and attempt to rationalize the truth...the murder of innocents?

Israeli apologists make themselves look ridiculous trying to justify the IDF slaughter. The whole world is watching this time.

Do you mean like Hamas willing trade the life's of thousands for their ideology? Those thousands normally include civilians, especially women and children

[Thorgal]

Time to charge Israel for war crimes. Don't be distracted by the rubbish about rockets fired from Gaza. How many civilians did they kill?

Selective reading as usual. Rockets fired or stored in UN locations

Quote from OP :

"Spokesman Chris Gunness added, "In none of the schools which were hit directly or in the immediate vicinity, were weapons discovered or fired from."

"No prior warning had been given by the government of Israel of the firing of 155 MM high explosive projectiles on, or in the surrounding area of the school," the inquiry says.

Edited April 28, 2015 by Thorgal

[sonjai]

The Israeli government, and people who support it, are war criminals. No doubt about and Western media is complicit in shielding them.

[JingerBen]

In any military conflict, the number of children and non-combatants killed is the best indication of which side is guilty of war crimes.

The 2014 Gaza Massacre is a textbook example.

[konying]

Time to charge Israel for war crimes. Don't be distracted by the rubbish about rockets fired from Gaza. How many civilians did they kill?

Selective reading as usual. Rockets fired or stored in UN locations

Quote from OP :

"Spokesman Chris Gunness added, "In none of the schools which were hit directly or in the immediate vicinity, were weapons discovered or fired from."

"No prior warning had been given by the government of Israel of the firing of 155 MM high explosive projectiles on, or in the surrounding area of the school," the inquiry says.

I am glad you approve of this source, I must say it comes as a shock

[Ulysses G.]

In any military conflict, the number of children and non-combatants killed is the best indication of which side is guilty of war crimes.

Are you actually trying to claim that Hamas is not guilty of war crimes?

In armed conflicts, the civilian casualty ratio is the ratio of civilian casualties to combatant casualties, or total casualties. The IDF’s civilian-to-terrorist death ratio is the lowest in the world.

[Expat1]

IDF, such noble warriors.

[Linky]

In any military conflict, the number of children and non-combatants killed is the best indication of which side is guilty of war crimes.

Are you actually trying to claim that Hamas is not guilty of war crimes?

In armed conflicts, the civilian casualty ratio is the ratio of civilian casualties to combatant casualties, or total casualties. The IDFs civilian-to-terrorist death ratio is the lowest in the world.

Im sure the war crimes tribunal will take that into account when sentenced. ?

[Ulysses G.]

The IMAGINARY war crimes tribunal.

[Steely Dan]

Not mentioned is the 1:1 ratio of combatants killed relative to civilians, a ratio almost unprecedented in modern urban warfare. So the 2000 dead figure repeated ad nauseum by Hamas and their apologists has decreased to 1000, as did the 1500 killed during operation cast lead also came down to 750. This is not about drones but I would refer anyone to the civilian to combatants ratio due to drone attacks. Perhaps the Obama administration should be congratulating Israel on their restraint and accuracy.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/194666#.VT79jCYaySM

[BKKBobby]

Time to charge Israel for war crimes. Don't be distracted by the rubbish about rockets fired from Gaza. How many civilians did they kill?

Selective reading as usual. Rockets fired or stored in UN locations

Is there any place in Gaza that you can hide and shoot rockets from that isnt in a overpopulated area?

That human shield myth you tell is as true as Israelis harvesting arab internal organs.

Now its your turn to respond with this: So why cant they just stop shooting rockets then?

[konying]

Time to charge Israel for war crimes. Don't be distracted by the rubbish about rockets fired from Gaza. How many civilians did they kill?

Selective reading as usual. Rockets fired or stored in UN locations

Is there any place in Gaza that you can hide and shoot rockets from that isnt in a overpopulated area?

That human shield myth you tell is as true as Israelis harvesting arab internal organs.

Now its your turn to respond with this: So why cant they just stop shooting rockets then?

Sorry did not realise shooting rockets was mandatory

[dexterm]

Not mentioned is the 1:1 ratio of combatants killed relative to civilians, a ratio almost unprecedented in modern urban warfare. So the 2000 dead figure repeated ad nauseum by Hamas and their apologists has decreased to 1000, as did the 1500 killed during operation cast lead also came down to 750. This is not about drones but I would refer anyone to the civilian to combatants ratio due to drone attacks. Perhaps the Obama administration should be congratulating Israel on their restraint and accuracy.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/194666#.VT79jCYaySM

This is exactly what I mean by Israel and its apologists being in a state of denial and distortion to justify the massacre of innocent civilians.. First you alter the "more than 2,200 killed" mentioned in the OP to 2,000. Then you pluck a mysterious 1:1 ratio out of thin air and in an instant you make 492 real people disappear.

I think the UN figures from United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs are more reliable.

"In March 2015, OCHA reported that 2,220 Palestinians had been killed, of whom 1,492 civilians (551 children, 299 women), 605 militants and 123 of unknown status. Between 10,626 and 10,895 were wounded (including 3,374 children, of whom over 1,000 were left permanently disabled). 66 Israeli soldiers, 5 Israeli civilians (including one child) and one Thai civilian were killed and 469 IDF soldiers and 261 Israeli civilians were injured."

http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/annual_humanitarian_overview_2014_english_final.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Israel%E2%80%93Gaza_conflict#Palestinian

And all Israel gained from this was a massive PR disaster with more people becoming aware of the injustices perpetrated against the Palestinians.

There is no future for Israel until it faces up to the truth of their war crimes.

[Ulysses G.]

Not mentioned is the 1:1 ratio of combatants killed relative to civilians, a ratio almost unprecedented in modern urban warfare. So the 2000 dead figure repeated ad nauseum by Hamas and their apologists has decreased to 1000, as did the 1500 killed during operation cast lead also came down to 750. This is not about drones but I would refer anyone to the civilian to combatants ratio due to drone attacks. Perhaps the Obama administration should be congratulating Israel on their restraint and accuracy.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/194666#.VT79jCYaySM

This is exactly what I mean by Israel and its apologists being in a state of denial and distortion to justify the massacre of innocent civilians.. First you alter the "more than 2,200 killed" mentioned in the OP to 2,000. Then you pluck a mysterious 1:1 ratio out of thin air and in an instant you make 492 real people disappear.

Those "real people" were Hamas TERRORISTS. That is the whole point.

The terrorist to civilian ratio of Palestinian deaths in Operation Protective Edge is an unprecedented 1:1, a news study released last week reveals - supporting earlier findings regarding the so-called "civilian casualties" Hamas touts to international media.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/185632#.VT8UPeVJ3fI

[dexterm]

Not mentioned is the 1:1 ratio of combatants killed relative to civilians, a ratio almost unprecedented in modern urban warfare. So the 2000 dead figure repeated ad nauseum by Hamas and their apologists has decreased to 1000, as did the 1500 killed during operation cast lead also came down to 750. This is not about drones but I would refer anyone to the civilian to combatants ratio due to drone attacks. Perhaps the Obama administration should be congratulating Israel on their restraint and accuracy.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/194666#.VT79jCYaySM

This is exactly what I mean by Israel and its apologists being in a state of denial and distortion to justify the massacre of innocent civilians.. First you alter the "more than 2,200 killed" mentioned in the OP to 2,000. Then you pluck a mysterious 1:1 ratio out of thin air and in an instant you make 492 real people disappear.

Those "real people" were Hamas TERRORISTS. That is the whole point.

The terrorist to civilian ratio of Palestinian deaths in Operation Protective Edge is an unprecedented 1:1, a news study released last week reveals - supporting earlier findings regarding the so-called "civilian casualties" Hamas touts to international media.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/185632#.VT8UPeVJ3fI

..and the source according to your link for these amazing figures is..

The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC), also known as Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center in honor of Meir Amit, is an Israeli-based research group with close ties to the Israel Defense Forces and the American Jewish Congress.The organisation is part of the Israel Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center (IICC).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_and_Terrorism_Information_Center

[ggold]

Not mentioned is the 1:1 ratio of combatants killed relative to civilians, a ratio almost unprecedented in modern urban warfare. So the 2000 dead figure repeated ad nauseum by Hamas and their apologists has decreased to 1000, as did the 1500 killed during operation cast lead also came down to 750. This is not about drones but I would refer anyone to the civilian to combatants ratio due to drone attacks. Perhaps the Obama administration should be congratulating Israel on their restraint and accuracy.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/194666#.VT79jCYaySM

This is exactly what I mean by Israel and its apologists being in a state of denial and distortion to justify the massacre of innocent civilians.. First you alter the "more than 2,200 killed" mentioned in the OP to 2,000. Then you pluck a mysterious 1:1 ratio out of thin air and in an instant you make 492 real people disappear.

Those "real people" were Hamas TERRORISTS. That is the whole point.

The terrorist to civilian ratio of Palestinian deaths in Operation Protective Edge is an unprecedented 1:1, a news study released last week reveals - supporting earlier findings regarding the so-called "civilian casualties" Hamas touts to international media.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/185632#.VT8UPeVJ3fI

..and the source according to your link for these amazing figures is..

The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC), also known as Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center in honor of Meir Amit, is an Israeli-based research group with close ties to the Israel Defense Forces and the American Jewish Congress.The organisation is part of the Israel Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center (IICC).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_and_Terrorism_Information_Center

The Cherry-Picked Quotes

We were not permitted to speak with the AP reporters, but Reuven Erlich did, and it was not a good experience.

A few days before the AP article was published, one of its reporters, Karin Laub, telephoned Mr. Erlich of the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, which has documented in several of its own probes that the Hamas-generated numbers for Gaza civilian casualties are grossly inflated. The organization found that Hamas is obfuscating the actual lists and affiliations, partly because of objective technical difficulties (poor paperwork and a lack of access to some bodies), and as part of its propaganda campaign against Israel. Thus, Meir Amit’s experts are closely examining the deaths, one by one, and its final tally won’t be available for many months—if not years. For now, the ratio of civilian-to-terrorist deaths has been averaging roughly 1:1 in its reports.

“Hamas controls the information,” he continued, “like in Northern Syria, ISIS controls the information. We are not playing in a yard of a democratic country [where] you can go and make your own investigation.”

Mr. Erlich’s comments are interesting because the AP counted among the civilian dead “males between the ages of 16 and 59 whose names did not appear in connection with militant groups on searches of websites or on street posters honoring fighters.” What the article did not mention, but what was perfectly obvious to even the most casual observer of the Gaza conflict, was that Hamas has turned civilian casualty statistics into a weapon of war, and routinely inflated the numbers. As reported last August in a Forbes article (by Richard Behar) entitled “Media Intifada,” the AP and other major media outlets (including The New York Times and Reuters) simply parroted the Hamas claim that most of the war dead were civilians.

Read more at http://observer.com/2015/03/how-the-ap-botched-its-investigation-of-civilian-deaths-in-the-israel-hamas-war/#ixzz3YaBGHUhO

[ggold]

Not mentioned is the 1:1 ratio of combatants killed relative to civilians, a ratio almost unprecedented in modern urban warfare. So the 2000 dead figure repeated ad nauseum by Hamas and their apologists has decreased to 1000, as did the 1500 killed during operation cast lead also came down to 750. This is not about drones but I would refer anyone to the civilian to combatants ratio due to drone attacks. Perhaps the Obama administration should be congratulating Israel on their restraint and accuracy.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/194666#.VT79jCYaySM

This is exactly what I mean by Israel and its apologists being in a state of denial and distortion to justify the massacre of innocent civilians.. First you alter the "more than 2,200 killed" mentioned in the OP to 2,000. Then you pluck a mysterious 1:1 ratio out of thin air and in an instant you make 492 real people disappear.

Those "real people" were Hamas TERRORISTS. That is the whole point.

The terrorist to civilian ratio of Palestinian deaths in Operation Protective Edge is an unprecedented 1:1, a news study released last week reveals - supporting earlier findings regarding the so-called "civilian casualties" Hamas touts to international media.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/185632#.VT8UPeVJ3fI

..and the source according to your link for these amazing figures is..

The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC), also known as Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center in honor of Meir Amit, is an Israeli-based research group with close ties to the Israel Defense Forces and the American Jewish Congress.The organisation is part of the Israel Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center (IICC).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_and_Terrorism_Information_Center

Unlike you who swallows Hamas propaganda hook line and sinker! There is no future for Hamas, Israel is there to stay. get over yourself and your hatred.

[dexterm]

Israeli apologists seem to be playing with statistics in order to justify the massacre of 551 innocent children. The results of your accountancy can be seen by Google Images: children killed Gaza. However way you try to rationalize it, this remains an obscenity in the 21^st century.

Many other nations in history have committed crimes against humanity, but have confronted their past, and have been able to move on. Israel is still in a state of denial.

[maidee]

israel is about the only friend in the region, and paid nicely to be so, so i guess they will get away with it, any time they want

[wabothai]

You all regular pro's don't dare to use the name "Palestinians", do you?

[Harveyg]

Time to charge Israel for war crimes. Don't be distracted by the rubbish about rockets fired from Gaza. How many civilians did they kill?

And we're off to the races again. I don't know why I bother. You are not really going to change your mind.

So... " How many civilians did they (Hamas) kill?" So you mean Israel killed way more Palestinians than Palestinians killed Israelis. So true, so deplorable. On the other hand if it was you and your family on the receiving end you'd say, well, they'll kill at most one of my kids so I guess I'll hold off shooting at their kids even if that's where the shooters are. Even if I'm not so lucky they'll get at most the neighbors kid too. Actually, maybe you would take a page from Hamas' book and use your kids as shields for you and your wife. That would make things more fair and just I would think.

BTW, am I the only one here that thinks when this OP says Israel should pay, he really means 'Jews' should pay? Sorry if I'm mistaken. Maybe I'm lumping him together with those that like to use the word "Zionists".

[Harveyg]

The Israeli government, and people who support it, are war criminals. No doubt about and Western media is complicit in shielding them.

People who support Hamas right to use their community's children as shields, who support Hamas total disregard for their community's safety by locating themselves purposely in civilian areas are war criminals. No doubt about (it) and Western media (BBC at least) is complicit in shielding them.

[Harveyg]

israel is about the only friend in the region, and paid nicely to be so, so i guess they will get away with it, any time they want

They will get away with it any time HAMAS shoots rockets at them. Contrarily they will also get away with it any time the West Bank shoots rockets at them. Oh wait, that's not really happening....

[Harveyg]

Israeli apologists seem to be playing with statistics in order to justify the massacre of 551 innocent children. The results of your accountancy can be seen by Google Images: children killed Gaza. However way you try to rationalize it, this remains an obscenity in the 21^st century.

Many other nations in history have committed crimes against humanity, but have confronted their past, and have been able to move on. Israel is still in a state of denial.

OF course it's an obscenity. What else might be an obscenity? religion? The reward of 72 virgins for killing Jews in the name of Allah?

How would you suggest israel protect itself? Choose to protect say half the people within rocket range? More? Less? Or maybe it would be better to sacrifice a small number, say 10?,20?, 30? to keep the western press quiet? Or maybe offer no resistance at all to win the approval of the likes of you

Israel isn't in a state of denial. Are you kidding me? Not confronted its past? Are you completely ignorant of Jewish history? It's precisely because the past has been confronted that Israel exists today ..Israel makes no apology for killing children You want to put your kids in harm's way? Up to you....