Evidence of Israel, Hamas war crimes in Gaza: UN

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-09-16 11:42

GAZA BLOCKADE

An Israeli human rights group, B'Tselem, said last week that 773 of the 1,387 Palestinians killed were civilians.

Israel has said 709 combatants, 295 civilians and 162 people whose status it was unable to clarify were killed. Thirteen Israelis, 10 soldiers and three civilians, died.

Israel has rejected international criticism of an offensive it said was launched to curb Hamas rocket attacks on its towns. Israel says it is investigating allegations but has not yet found cause to prosecute any of its soldiers.

Goldstone, a former South African Supreme Court and Constitutional Court judge and UN prosecutor, led a commission of inquiry into political violence and police hit squad activities in the early 1990s in his homeland.

The investigator said verbal attacks on his mission by Israel and pro-Israeli groups were disappointing, though understandable given the politically charged atmosphere.

Goldstone said Israel's blockade of Gaza, which began prior to the assault, amounted to "collective punishment" for the 1.5 million Gazans, most of whom rely on aid to survive. The summary said Israel's operation was directed at the people of Gaza as a whole, not just Hamas militants.

His report said Israeli forces "humiliated, dehumanized and carried out an assault on the dignity of the people in Gaza ... unlawful detentions, unacceptable conditions of detention ... obscenities and racist slogans."

It said a court could find that the blockade of Gaza is itself a crime against humanity. Israel continues to tightly restrict goods entering Gaza to staples and humanitarian supplies, saying that lifting these restrictions would allow Hamas to smuggle weapons into the Strip.

Goldstone's report also criticized Israel for firing white phosphorus incendiary shells over the UN compound in Gaza and for its "intentional strike" on the Al Quds hospital using high explosive artillery shells and white phosphorus.

Israeli shells hit and damaged several UN facilities in the Gaza Strip during the conflict.

The report said an Israeli soldier held by Hamas militants since June 2006, Gilad Shalit, has prisoner-of-war status and should be treated humanely according to the Geneva Convention.

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