Israel report backs Gaza war actions

[webfact]

Israelis go on offensive ahead of UN report
JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel on Sunday launched a pre-emptive assault on an upcoming U.N. report into last year's war in the Gaza Strip, saying the report is unfairly biased and issuing its own report that blames Gaza's Hamas militant rulers for the heavy civilian casualties.

The diplomatic offensive set the stage for what is expected to be a contentious showdown with U.N. officials over allegations that Israel committed war crimes during the 50-day war.

Israel has long had a contentious relationship with the United Nations, saying the world body is biased. A similar report conducted by the U.N.'s Human Rights Council following a 2008-2009 war against in Gaza was harshly critical of both Israel and Hamas.

But this time around, the stakes are higher. The Palestinians have joined the International Criminal Court and are pursuing war crimes charges against Israel. The council's new report, expected as soon as this week, could play a key role in the case against Israel.

"Having on the record our view of this war is extremely important, and we have nothing to hide," Dore Gold, the new director of Israel's Foreign Ministry, told reporters at a special briefing held to unveil Israel's own 242-page investigation into the war.

Gold was accompanied by the country's Deputy Foreign Minister, Tzipi Hotovely, and governmental and military legal experts who worked on the report.

Israel launched its offensive in Gaza last July 8 in response to heavy rocket fire from Hamas and other militant groups in the territory. More than 2,200 Palestinians, including hundreds of civilians, were killed during the fighting, according to U.N. and Palestinian officials, while 73 people died on the Israeli side.

Palestinians have said that the Israeli army violated the rules of war, which include giving adequate warning to civilians, using proportionate force and distinguishing between civilians and combatants. They have pointed to the high civilian casualty count as evidence.

In Sunday's report, Israel defended itself with the same arguments it has been making since the fighting ended, albeit with a level of detail never shown before.

Israel's core claim is that Hamas is responsible for the civilian casualties because it used Gaza's residents as "human shields" by firing rockets from residential areas and operating in schools, hospitals and mosques. It also notes that Hamas' rockets and mortar shells were aimed at Israeli population centers.

The report includes what Israel says are seized Hamas documents encouraging its fighters to move in civilian areas, knowing that it would constrain Israel's ability to act.

"We were a bit struck and surprised with the amount of documentation that we managed to recover during the operation actually indicating that this is a strategy of Hamas," said Eran Shamir-Borer, a lawyer in the Israeli military's international law department.

Nabil Shaath, a senior Palestinian official, called the latest Israeli reports "sickening and outrageous" and said they strengthened the need for the Palestinians to seek international justice.

Israel has argued that it took unprecedented measures to avoid civilian casualties, ordering residents to evacuate through leaflets, phone calls, radio broadcasts and warning strikes with unarmed shells ahead of live airstrikes.

Shamir-Borer showed reporters what he said was a declassified "target card" that laid out the calculations Israel took before striking a suspected arms cache hidden in the home of an Islamic Jihad leader in southern Gaza.

The "operational directives" listed on the card call for destroying the arms while avoiding civilian casualties. It calls for a single airstrike on the home, at night and only after warning people to leave, and "real-time surveillance" to be on the lookout for civilians.

Shamir-Borer said the home was hit, and there was a "secondary blast," indicating weapons were stored there. The report said the army was unaware of any casualties from the strike. Shamir-Borer said the army went through a similar process in all 5,000 preplanned airstrikes carried out during the fighting, though there were hundreds of reactive strikes as well. According to the latest Israeli figures, some 44 percent of the dead in Gaza were militants, far higher than Palestinian and U.N. numbers.

Officials with Hamas, a militant group sworn to Israel's destruction, rejected the Israeli report. Izzat Risheq, a senior Hamas official, called it a "lie promoted by the occupation to cover up its crimes." He said "the hand of justice will reach the perpetrators."

The new Israeli report is part of a broader campaign aimed at blunting the coming report by the U.N. Human Rights Commission.

Over the weekend, Israel released a report compiled by a group of retired Western military officers who found that Israel met or "significantly exceeded" the international laws of war. The report was sponsored by the "Friends of Israel Initiative," a pro-Israel group of retired politicians and diplomats from around the world.

"Those who want to know the truth should read this report and read the report of the top generals," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet. "Whoever wants a baseless automatic accusation against Israel can waste their time reading the U.N. report."

Israel has had a contentious relationship with the U.N. Human Rights Council for years, saying it is stacked with countries that themselves have poor human rights records and has focused disproportionate attention on Israel.

A report by the council into the 2008-2009 war conducted by South African jurist Richard Goldstone, found evidence that Israel and Hamas had committed war crimes, though Goldstone later backed off his key allegations against Israel.

Israel has attacked the council's latest investigation since it was ordered last July. The investigation's mandate focuses on Israel's activities in Gaza, but makes no mention of Hamas attacks on Israel.

Israeli claims of bias forced the head of the investigation, Canadian law professor William Schabas, to resign early this year after it was discovered he had provided legal advice to the Palestine Liberation Organization.

But these complaints may go only so far. The upcoming report is all but certain to come down hard on Israel, giving the Palestinians a potent weapon in their case against Israel at the International Criminal Court.

Although Israel refuses to recognize the court's jurisdiction, a case against its citizens would be embarrassing and could potentially hinder Israeli officials from traveling abroad.

The case against Israel is likely to include charges that the military used excessive force in several instances of fighting, causing heavy casualties by firing artillery into crowded areas.

The Palestinians also claim that the Israeli military is incapable of investigating itself — a concern that was underscored last week when an army investigation cleared troops of any wrongdoing in an airstrike that killed four Palestinian children on a beach last summer.
___

Online: http://mfa.gov.il/ProtectiveEdge/Pages/default.aspx

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-06-15

[Seastallion]

Very simple, Israel...release recorded footage of attacks, such as the one that killed 4 boys on a beach.

THEN, and only then can your claims lead to exoneration.

[ezzra]

Here we go again, Israel being the eternal villain.... show me another country in the world that

endure relentless daily lethal attracts of thousand of rockets raining on civilian

cities and towns, tunnel's commando infiltrations aim to over power and kidnap hostages,

and I'll show you a country that must defend it self at any cost,...

Imagine that Israel get wiped out in some catastrophic war, all the world's head of states

will be saying Oh what a terrible thing it is.. what for desert than?

to quote Golda Meir :

We have always said that in our war with the Arabs we had a secret weapon - no alternative....

Edited June 15, 2015 by ezzra

[Scott]

Inflammatory post removed. Stick to the topic of the thread, please.

[geriatrickid]

Very simple, Israel...release recorded footage of attacks, such as the one that killed 4 boys on a beach.

THEN, and only then can your claims lead to exoneration.

An accused is not obliged to prove innocence. It is the obligation of the accuser(s) to prove guilt. That's how it works in the civilized world.

[Seastallion]

Very simple, Israel...release recorded footage of attacks, such as the one that killed 4 boys on a beach.

THEN, and only then can your claims lead to exoneration.

An accused is not obliged to prove innocence. It is the obligation of the accuser(s) to prove guilt. That's how it works in the civilized world.

The OP is about a report claiming innocence preemptively. No accusation has been made yet.

And since when has Israel followed legal norms for it to fall behind the "innocent until proven guilty" shield?

Besides, there's a lot more at stake here. Innocence does need to be proven if Israel is to have any credibility...that's the way it works when circumstantial evidence (on top of concrete evidence) against is so heavy, and in the environment of world opinion.

Why wouldn't Israel prove it's innocence once and for all and sway world opinion to garner a heap load more support?

[Anthony5]

Israel on Sunday launched a pre-emptive assault on an upcoming U.N. report into last year's war in the Gaza Strip, saying the report is unfairly biased

I know, the truth is always unfairly biased....................for those that were allowed to sprinkle sand in the eyes of the world for decades.

[boomerangutang]

Israel was defending its territory and its people. War is messy, at the least. If some Gazans toss bombs/missiles over the wall, then those tossers are endangering all Gazans. They know the parameters of the dangerous game they're playing. All Gazan parents and teachers who feed in to the ideas that Israel is the devil and/or the enemy, are also contributing to Gazans getting injured and killed, and building pulverized. The onus is on the Gazans. It's also on the authorities there (Hamas?) to police their territory to try and make sure the idiots tossing bombs are shut down.

I might have a peace-loving family, but if one of my sons is shooting neighbors out of the 3rd story window of my house, then that shooter is endangering not only the neighbors, but also his own family in the house.

[Linky]

Here we go again, Israel being the eternal villain.... show me another country in the world that

endure relentless daily lethal attracts of thousand of rockets raining on civilian

cities and towns, tunnel's commando infiltrations aim to over power and kidnap hostages,

and I'll show you a country that must defend it self at any cost,...

Imagine that Israel get wiped out in some catastrophic war, all the world's head of states

will be saying Oh what a terrible thing it is.. what for desert than?

to quote Golda Meir :

We have always said that in our war with the Arabs we had a secret weapon - no alternative....

Thousands of rockets daily?

Ive told you a million times not to exagerate.

[Jai Dee]

An off-topic and inflammatory post has been removed from this thread.

[Seastallion]

"The report includes what Israel says are seized Hamas documents encouraging its fighters to move in civilian areas, knowing that it would constrain Israel's ability to act."

That should be re-worded, "...thinking, wrongly, that it would constrain...."

[dexterm]

Very simple, Israel...release recorded footage of attacks, such as the one that killed 4 boys on a beach.

THEN, and only then can your claims lead to exoneration.

An accused is not obliged to prove innocence. It is the obligation of the accuser(s) to prove guilt. That's how it works in the civilized world.

Good. I am sure Israel will be found guilty when the case comes up in the ICC, since the IDF with its clear conflict of interest and woeful track record of self investigation is not to be trusted.

Edited June 15, 2015 by dexterm

[dexterm]

Israel was defending its territory and its people. War is messy, at the least. If some Gazans toss bombs/missiles over the wall, then those tossers are endangering all Gazans. They know the parameters of the dangerous game they're playing. All Gazan parents and teachers who feed in to the ideas that Israel is the devil and/or the enemy, are also contributing to Gazans getting injured and killed, and building pulverized. The onus is on the Gazans. It's also on the authorities there (Hamas?) to police their territory to try and make sure the idiots tossing bombs are shut down.

I might have a peace-loving family, but if one of my sons is shooting neighbors out of the 3rd story window of my house, then that shooter is endangering not only the neighbors, but also his own family in the house.

If some Gazans toss bombs/missiles over the wall, then those tossers are endangering all Gazans. They know the parameters of the dangerous game they're playing.

Yes indeed. Israel knows who those tossers are...a handful of Salafist supporters of IS, so why not help Hamas in their efforts to stop their rocket tossing, rather than actually encouraging the Salafists to do it again by using it as a pretext to attack Hamas...precisely what the Salafists wanted.

[the onus] is also on the authorities there (Hamas?) to police their territory to try and make sure the idiots tossing bombs are shut down.

That's exactly what they are trying to do, if Israel would allow them.

Do you hold Netanyahu equally to blame for any atrocities carried out by fanatical Zionist settlers?

I might have a peace-loving family, but if one of my sons is shooting neighbors out of the 3rd story window of my house, then that shooter is endangering not only the neighbors, but also his own family in the house.

That's a false analogy fallacy. Gaza is not a 3 storey house, and Hamas are not the parents of Salafist rocket launchers.

[Thorgal]

Very simple, Israel...release recorded footage of attacks, such as the one that killed 4 boys on a beach.

THEN, and only then can your claims lead to exoneration.

An accused is not obliged to prove innocence. It is the obligation of the accuser(s) to prove guilt. That's how it works in the civilized world.

"An accused is not obliged to prove innocence" ???

Once the ICC prosecutor filed charges for war crimes to the court, the court will decide if the charges are consistent.

The accused will receive an arrest warrant or a summons to appear in court.

The accused will be informed of the charges and will be given time to prepare his defence to prove his innocence to court.

He can do this on his own, or he can be represented by a defense lawyer.

That's how it works in the ICC :

http://www.icc-cpi.int/nr/rdonlyres/ea9aeff7-5752-4f84-be94-0a655eb30e16/0/rome_statute_english.pdf

The Israeli report mentioned in OP is not consistent with the ICC procedures. Again, manufacturing a propaganda pre-trial document is not relevant for the ICC proceedings.

Till now, Israel didn't recognise the authority of the International Court...even without hearing the charges...says enough !

Edited June 15, 2015 by Thorgal

[Linky]

Very simple, Israel...release recorded footage of attacks, such as the one that killed 4 boys on a beach.

THEN, and only then can your claims lead to exoneration.

An accused is not obliged to prove innocence. It is the obligation of the accuser(s) to prove guilt. That's how it works in the civilized world.

Correct. They do not have to prove innocence. But if the court provides evidence of wrongdoing and Israel refuses to provide evidence to the contrary then the court must rule on the evidence provided.

So sure, dont provide any evidence to exculpate itself, but then dont whinge when guilty.

[Seastallion]

Very simple, Israel...release recorded footage of attacks, such as the one that killed 4 boys on a beach.

THEN, and only then can your claims lead to exoneration.

An accused is not obliged to prove innocence. It is the obligation of the accuser(s) to prove guilt. That's how it works in the civilized world.

"An accused is not obliged to prove innocence" ???

Once the ICC prosecutor filed charges for war crimes to the court, the court will decide if the charges are consistent.

The accused will receive an arrest warrant or a summons to appear in court.

The accused will be informed of the charges and will be given time to prepare his defence to prove his innocence to court.

He can do this on his own, or he can be represented by a defense lawyer.

That's how it works in the ICC :

http://www.icc-cpi.int/nr/rdonlyres/ea9aeff7-5752-4f84-be94-0a655eb30e16/0/rome_statute_english.pdf

The Israeli report mentioned in OP is not consistent with the ICC procedures. Again, manufacturing a propaganda pre-trial document is not relevant for the ICC proceedings.

Till now, Israel didn't recognise the authority of the International Court...even without hearing the charges...says enough !

"manufacturing a propaganda pre-trial document"

Which is exactly what this is. If it was as they say, preparation, then they would have kept it confidential.

That in itself smacks of a guilty conscience.

[car720]

Very simple, Israel...release recorded footage of attacks, such as the one that killed 4 boys on a beach.

THEN, and only then can your claims lead to exoneration.

An accused is not obliged to prove innocence. It is the obligation of the accuser(s) to prove guilt. That's how it works in the civilized world.

unless they are already proven guilty and are appealing.

Appeals are quite often preemptive.

[car720]

Israel was defending its territory and its people. War is messy, at the least. If some Gazans toss bombs/missiles over the wall, then those tossers are endangering all Gazans. They know the parameters of the dangerous game they're playing. All Gazan parents and teachers who feed in to the ideas that Israel is the devil and/or the enemy, are also contributing to Gazans getting injured and killed, and building pulverized. The onus is on the Gazans. It's also on the authorities there (Hamas?) to police their territory to try and make sure the idiots tossing bombs are shut down.

I might have a peace-loving family, but if one of my sons is shooting neighbors out of the 3rd story window of my house, then that shooter is endangering not only the neighbors, but also his own family in the house.

I have a question for you mate.

Who did they call the devil before the Israelis arrived?

[car720]

I might have a peace-loving family, but if one of my sons is shooting neighbors out of the 3rd story window of my house, then that shooter is endangering not only the neighbors, but also his own family in the house.

That's a false analogy fallacy. Gaza is not a 3 storey house, and Hamas are not the parents of Salafist rocket launchers.

lol................it is a million years since I studied fallacy creation.

[Thorgal]

Israel was defending its territory and its people. War is messy, at the least. If some Gazans toss bombs/missiles over the wall, then those tossers are endangering all Gazans. They know the parameters of the dangerous game they're playing. All Gazan parents and teachers who feed in to the ideas that Israel is the devil and/or the enemy, are also contributing to Gazans getting injured and killed, and building pulverized. The onus is on the Gazans. It's also on the authorities there (Hamas?) to police their territory to try and make sure the idiots tossing bombs are shut down.

I might have a peace-loving family, but if one of my sons is shooting neighbors out of the 3rd story window of my house, then that shooter is endangering not only the neighbors, but also his own family in the house.

IDF entered mid-June 2014 during operation Brothers' Keeper in occupied Palestinian territory with 10 army divisions. One devision is about 10.000 soldiers.

http://www.worthynews.com/15872-operation-bring-back-our-brothers-continues-over-200-hamas-members-arrested

Many Palestinians were arrested and killed. No one Israeli died in this period.

There were no Hamas terrorist attacks in that period : not with light weaponry and not with rockets. The first Hamas rockets were used on 30th of June.

Israeli news media reported that Israeli forces escalated lethal attacks on Palestinian territory in mid-June - weeks before Hamas launched rockets. The intensive Israeli operations were supposedly to find and bring back three kidnapped Israeli teenagers.

Given little attention by the media, the IDF launched a drone attack in Gaza the 11th of June, one day before kidnapping of the Israeli youths.

So why is Israel still claiming a defensive war when they've entered in large numbers with their armed forces with brute force into Palestinian Territory?

Defensive alibi was needed to start collective punishment...

https://www.nlg.org/sites/default/files/Attack%20First%20Kill%20thousands%20Claim%20Self-Defense%20FINAL.pdf#overlay-context=resource/letters/palestine-subcommittee-submission-icc-re-israeli-self-defense-claims

OP is not mentioning operation Brothers' Keeper !

Which country would accept 10 foreign army devisions on its soil who's targeting civilians?

Edited June 15, 2015 by Thorgal

[Srikcir]

Israel wants respect in a two-state relationship with Palestine but interacts with Palestine only in a one-state relationship.

The conflict between Palestine and Israel will continue until Palestine becomes a recognized nation with the right of own sovereignty.

[Jim walker]

Israeli report find Israel innocent of all atrocities and at the end of the day they were the victims once again, so we can now get our fighter jets back to bomb and kill more Palestinian children without the rest of the world noticing.

[Steely Dan]

The Arabs have realized long ago that they will never defeat Israel militarily, so instead they indulge in terrorism. The aim of terrorism is principally to provoke a response where civilians get killed. The press are unindicted accessories to the fact. We're it not for their willingness to uncritically parrot Hamas talking points and accept their claims without proof the impetus to play the media like a fiddle would disappear. Here is Richard Kemp explaining the role the press plays in this and why

Israel has to go to such lengths to explain its use of the legitimate right of self defense.

[Linky]

The Arabs have realized long ago that they will never defeat Israel militarily, so instead they indulge in terrorism. The aim of terrorism is principally to provoke a response where civilians get killed. The press are unindicted accessories to the fact. We're it not for their willingness to uncritically parrot Hamas talking points and accept their claims without proof the impetus to play the media like a fiddle would disappear. Here is Richard Kemp explaining the role the press plays in this and why

Israel has to go to such lengths to explain its use of the legitimate right of self defense.

Whats your point. That the kids weren't really killed by Israel?

[BKKBobby]

Here we go again, Israel being the eternal villain.... show me another country in the world that

endure relentless daily lethal attracts of thousand of rockets raining on civilian

cities and towns, tunnel's commando infiltrations aim to over power and kidnap hostages,

and I'll show you a country that must defend it self at any cost,...

Imagine that Israel get wiped out in some catastrophic war, all the world's head of states

will be saying Oh what a terrible thing it is.. what for desert than?

to quote Golda Meir :

We have always said that in our war with the Arabs we had a secret weapon - no alternative....

There isnt thousands of rockets raining on Israel on a daily basis. Its a enormous exaggeration and a lie. Edited June 15, 2015 by BKKBobby

[Steely Dan]

The Arabs have realized long ago that they will never defeat Israel militarily, so instead they indulge in terrorism. The aim of terrorism is principally to provoke a response where civilians get killed. The press are unindicted accessories to the fact. We're it not for their willingness to uncritically parrot Hamas talking points and accept their claims without proof the impetus to play the media like a fiddle would disappear. Here is Richard Kemp explaining the role the press plays in this and why

Israel has to go to such lengths to explain its use of the legitimate right of self defense.

Whats your point. That the kids weren't really killed by Israel?

The kids would not have been killed if it were not for the actions of Hamas, which furthermore actually sought Palestian casualties so the whole UN ICC circus could come about.

[Thorgal]

The Arabs have realized long ago that they will never defeat Israel militarily, so instead they indulge in terrorism. The aim of terrorism is principally to provoke a response where civilians get killed. The press are unindicted accessories to the fact. We're it not for their willingness to uncritically parrot Hamas talking points and accept their claims without proof the impetus to play the media like a fiddle would disappear. Here is Richard Kemp explaining the role the press plays in this and why

Israel has to go to such lengths to explain its use of the legitimate right of self defense.

Quote from link :

https://www.nlg.org/sites/default/files/Attack%20First%20Kill%20thousands%20Claim%20Self-Defense%20FINAL.pdf#overlay-context=resource/letters/palestine-subcommittee-submission-icc-re-israeli-self-defense-claims

Certainly, the Rome Statute recognizes a place for self-defense. Article 31© of the statute exempts from criminal responsibility acts by a person “reasonably to defend himself or herself or another person ... against an imminent and unlawful use of force in a manner proportionate to the degree of danger to the person or the other person.”

However, the article then expressly states, “The fact that the person was involved in a defensive operation conducted by forces shall not in itself constitute a ground for excluding criminal responsibility.”

Thus, even if the facts and law were consistent with the Israeli and U.S. claim of self-defense against rockets – which they are not – nothing in the Rome Statute would automatically exempt Israeli political leaders and military personnel from criminal responsibility for ordering or carrying out such defensive operations if those operations included violations of the statute, such as by : targeting civilians or civilian property, using weapons in heavily populated areas that are inherently incapable of being targeted to distinguish civilian from military objectives, and going forward with attacks in which the foreseeable damage to civilians or civilian property is disproportionate to the anticipated military advantage.

Edited June 15, 2015 by Thorgal

[Harveyg]

Israel on Sunday launched a pre-emptive assault on an upcoming U.N. report into last year's war in the Gaza Strip, saying the report is unfairly biased

I know, the truth is always unfairly biased....................for those that were allowed to sprinkle sand in the eyes of the world for decades.

I agree. Unbelievable!!! Sprinkling sand at least since the 40's!!!

Oh waittttt. That was snow being sprinkled. Oh waitttt. No it wasn't.....

How far back would you like to go?

And where were you then??? Or your ancestors???? Or the UN?

Never again my TV friends. Never again.....

[Harveyg]

Here we go again, Israel being the eternal villain.... show me another country in the world that

endure relentless daily lethal attracts of thousand of rockets raining on civilian

cities and towns, tunnel's commando infiltrations aim to over power and kidnap hostages,

and I'll show you a country that must defend it self at any cost,...

Imagine that Israel get wiped out in some catastrophic war, all the world's head of states

will be saying Oh what a terrible thing it is.. what for desert than?

to quote Golda Meir :

We have always said that in our war with the Arabs we had a secret weapon - no alternative....

Thousands of rockets daily?

Ive told you a million times not to exagerate.

For those that swear allegiance to Israels destruction why exaggerate. One is too much!

[Jingthing]

Yes, Israel must defend itself and has every right to defend itself.

The indigenous people of Israel, the Jewish people, have every right to a homeland there, and no problem including the 20 percent minority Arab population of Israel either.

It's sad that Israel has so many vicious, racist enemies dedicated to the end of Israel, including the twisted BDS movement, but the struggle continues.

Edited June 15, 2015 by Jingthing