Israel forms war crime defence team to protect army officials

Daniel Friedman, the Israeli justice minister, has been appointed to lead a defence team should war crimes charges be brought following the 22-day war on Gaza. Mark Regev, a spokesman for the Israeli prime minister, confirmed to Al Jazeera on Friday that Friedman would lead an inter-ministerial team to co-ordinate a legal defence for civilians and the military. Israel has been criticised by many human rights organisations for using excessive force, including flame-generating chemical munitions, in densely populated areas during its aerial, naval and ground assault on the coastal strip, which began on December 27.The Israeli army has already banned the publication of the identity of military leaders who fought Hamas in Gaza. Ali Kashan, the Palestinian justice minister, met Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor, in The Hague on Thursday to discuss "allegations of crimes", a special adviser to the prosecutor said. Gaza medics put the death toll in Gaza at 1,330 with at least 5,450 wounded following Israel's attacks. About 65 per cent of the dead were civilians, including 400 children and 100 women. Eight Israeli human rights groups have called on the Israeli government to investigate allegations of war crimes given the scale of the casualties, describing the number of dead women and children as "terrifying". Richard Falk, a UN human rights expert, said on Thursday that there was evidence that Israel violated humanitarian law by conducting the offensive "against an essentially defenseless population". Accountability calls: A total of 53 installations used by the United Nations Relief and Works agency, Unrwa, were damaged or destroyed during Israel's Gaza campaign, including 37 schools - six of which are being used as emergency shelters - six health centres, and two warehouses. Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, demanded on Tuesday that those responsible for bombing UN buildings in the Palestinian territory be made accountable and accused Israel of using excessive force. Israel insists its troops did their best to limit civilian casualties in heavily-populated areas, accusing Hamas fighters of hiding behind Palestinian civilians and firing at Israelis from civilian and UN buildings. Pictures released by the UN showed what appeared to be flame-generating munitions, thought to be white phosphorus "wedges", falling into a UN compound in Gaza where hundreds of people were sheltering. If the munitions are proved to be white phosphorus - which causes extreme burns when in contact with the skin - Israel's use of the chemical could form the basis of war crimes charges. International law forbids white phosphorus use against military targets within areas where civilians are concentrated, except when the targets are clearly separated and "all feasible precautions" are taken to avoid casualties among non-combatants. The Israeli military is also suspected of using Dense Inert Metal Explosive (Dime) weapons in urban areas, causing horrific abdominal and leg injuries. When detonated, a Dime device expels a blade of charged tungsten dust that burns and destroys everything within a four-metre radius.

After a week of ceasefire Israel is facing growing questions not only about phosphorus but what other weapons it used. For the many thousands of Gazan civilians seeking to rebuild their ruined lives the hope that a new US president will be more active in the region than his predecessor still seems barely relevant. And this is not only because of an injury total put by the ministry of health in Gaza at 5,300, or worries about long-term psychological damage to their children. They also face a protracted dispute between Israel, the Ramallah based Palestinian Authority, and much of the international community on the one hand, and Hamas on the other before multi-billion dollar task of reconstucrion can even begin. For most Gazans peace is a return to their previous impoverished life under siege —only worse.

John Ging, head of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza, called on Friday for the establishment of an independent international investigation into the alleged war crimes committed during Operation Cast Lead. At a press conference held in Geneva, Ging said that a credible investigation of the death and destruction in Gaza was necessary especially in light of the growing anger of Gazans, the increasing number of extremists in the Strip and their lack of faith in the rule of law, Reuters reported. It is urgent to establish accountability for death and the destruction of Palestinian infrastructure through a credible mechanism which would "channel this emotion to confidence in the rule of law," Ging reportedly said. Ging told reporters that the number of extremists in the Strip had grown as a result of the three-week operation against Hamas, and stressed that it was important to prove that justice could be delivered in a lawful way. The extremists "are very confident in their rhetoric that there should be no expectation that justice will be delivered through the rule of law. Now we must prove that wrong," he reportedly said. According to the report, the UNRWA head noted that Israeli civilians had also suffered, and therefore, the investigation had to examine "legitimate allegations" on both sides. Ging expressed his hopes that new US Middle East envoy George Mitchell will talk to ordinary people in Gaza as part of a "new track" in diplomacy. "My first request to the US administration is talk to the ordinary people in Gaza. Come to Gaza and talk to the ordinary people -- the mothers, fathers, leaders of civil society, the people who are not involved in politics," said Ging.

Amnesty describes the situation in Gaza far worse than supposed, stressing the need for a probe into the violation of int'l law in the Gaza war. Speaking at an interview with Press TV on Friday, Donatella Rovera, who is heading an Amnesty International investigation team in Gaza, said the 'massive scale' of the humanitarian crisis on the ground in Gaza is beyond what is being detailed by photos or TV reports. Revora did not reject the idea of a war crime tribunal to punish Israel for the huge number of civilian casualties in it offensive in the Gaza Strip, but said an impartial investigation must be launched to look into all violations of international rules during the 23-day assault. Meanwhile, the world is concerned over the Israeli army's use of banned weapons against Gazans, including white phosphorus and depleted uranium. But Revora described the incendiary bomb as only one of the issues of concern regarding the violations committed in the Gaza offensive. She said the air-borne bombs, machine-guns, F-16 aircraft, artillery and tank shells and missiles used by Israel against the Palestinians in the territory are not banned but the manner in which they are used is not acceptable. Revora regretted the world's silence and lack of political will to stop the 'big catastrophe' and that the ceasefire came far too late. The people in Gaza are short of everything and many are in “absolute, desperate need of the first necessities for shelter”, she added. She urged the world to pressure Israel and Egypt to open the border crossing with Gaza and let international; aid deliveries into the war-torn region. But more than food or shelter Gazans need justice and accountability, she concluded and repeated her call for an immediate, uninterested investigation into the atrocities in Gaza.  MRS/HAR Original source at PressTV.