Where’s the international outcry over Israeli war crimes?
7/16/2006 4:00:00 PM GMT

(Reuters Photo) Palestinians carry a wounded civilian during a gunbattle in Beit Lahiya, Gaza

[color="Black"]Israel’s latest incursions into Gaza Strip, from which it withdrew settlers and soldiers last August, ending 38 years of occupation, are clear violations of the Geneva Conventions, their Additional Protocols, and all international treaties and rules limiting the barbarity of war. In other words, they are war crimes.

Israel ratified the Geneva Conventions in 1951, which makes it legally bound by the four Conventions. However it had always insisted on not applying the Fourth Geneva Convention to the West Bank and Gaza.

The fourth Convention on Rules of War, adopted August 12, 1949 by the international community in response to Nazi atrocities during World War II, governs "the treatment of civilians, including hostages, diplomats, spies, bystanders and civilians in territory under military occupation, during wartime, and outlaws torture, collective punishment and the resettlement by an occupying power of its own civilians on territory under its military control."

Israel claims that that those territories [the West Bank and Gaza Strip] were captured in 1967 as a result of a “defensive” war against Jordan and Egypt, countries which had illegally occupied them since 1948.

Let's have a deep look into Israel’s actions in the occupied territories and judge how it is meeting its international obligation.

Convention IV:

“The Convention shall also apply to all cases of partial or total occupation of the territory of a High Contracting Party, even if the said occupation meets with no armed resistance.”

This confirms that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict:

Art. 33 of the Fourth Convention states that:

“No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.”

Israel’s attacks on schools, universities and bridges in Gaza in recent weeks should be considered “Collective Punishment”.

Also using banned weapons against civilians is another form of “Collective Punishment”.

• Banned explosives

On July 10, Palestinian health ministry accused Israel of using a new type of explosives that contain poisonous material.

According to a ministry report released last week, surgeons in Palestinian hospitals confirmed that "all 249 casualties inflicted by the Israeli war machine during the operation on Gaza which started on June 27 resulted from shrapnel of new and developed shells and explosives which cause amputation of limbs and burning of all the injured parts."

The report further stated that "most casualties who were submitted to surgeries were caused by strong explosions that led to the amputation and carbonization of limbs while shrapnel caused small openings in the body through which internal parts, including intestines and spleen, are burned."

The ministry urged the international community and human rights organization "to send medical committees to examine the wounded and verify the existence of poisonous material in their bodies caused by Israeli weapons."

The ministry said in a statement that "international idleness and silence over Israel's crimes do not contribute to boosting the rule of the law but encourages the law of the jungle and Israel's ignoring of all international norms."

Also striking houses, endangering the lives of innocent people, killing and wounding civilians, as well as sonic booms; Israel’s latest weapon against Palestinians, are seen as “measures of intimidation” which are prohibited, according to Geneva Conventions.

Israel’s violation of international law and war crimes in Gaza seem set to continue, with the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowing an “escalation” in military operations unless Palestinians holding Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit release him.

Further violation of the Geneva Conventions by the Jewish State is exemplified in Israel’s bombing of power plant in Gaza.

According to Art. 53: “Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or cooperative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.”

It’s crystal clear that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza.

And its current offensive in the Palestinian territories, which has so far claimed the lives of 80 people, is not just a means of pressuring Palestinians holding Gilad Shalit to release him as the Israeli government claims. It’s another attempt to destroy the Hamas-led government and force it step down.

Israeli ‘Yediot Aharonot ran an article saying:

“What we have here is not an attempt to rescue Cpl Shalit and bring him safe to his family and not an attempt to stop the firing of the Qassam rockets but a move aimed at destroying the Hamas government in the hope that next time the Palestinians will choose a 'responsible' government that will negotiate with Israel.”

Also Palestinian newspaper Al-Ayyam wrote:

“Summer Rain [the Israeli Gaza incursion] does not bear the characteristics of an operation intended to save Shalit. It seeks to impose the Israeli agenda that wants to shred to pieces the Palestinians’ resistance in all its forms, stop the launching of home made rockets and undermine Palestinian attempts to prevent Palestinian factions forming a lobby that presents a united vision.”

How long will the civilised world remain silent over Israel's crimes and blatant violations of Human rights, Geneva Conventions and International Laws?

http://aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=11757